1972 | World Cup|
---|---|
Number of teams | 4 |
Host country | France |
Winner | Great Britain (3rd title) |
Matches played | 7 |
Attendance | 62,456 (8,922 per match) |
Points scored | 240 (34.29 per match) |
Top scorer | John Holmes (26) |
Top try scorer | Bob Fulton (5) |
The sixth Rugby League World Cup was held in France in October and November 1972. Australia started as the favourites to retain the trophy they had won just two years previously. New Zealand had beaten all three of the other nations in 1971 and France were expected to be tough opponents on their home soil. In the event Great Britain confounded most expectations by running out worthy winners[ citation needed ] and levelling their tally of World Cup wins at 3–3 with the Australians.
The final was held at Stade Gerland in Lyon. Great Britain played Australia and in the end, with scores level and unchanged after extra time, claimed the cup on league placing.
This was the last World Cup to be played under the four-tackle rule.
Marseille | Paris | Toulouse |
---|---|---|
Stade Vélodrome | Parc des Princes | Stadium Municipal |
Capacity: 55,000 | Capacity: 48,712 | Capacity: 37,000 |
Perpignan | Pau | Grenoble |
Stade Gilbert Brutus | Stade du Hameau | Stade Lesdiguières |
Capacity: 13,000 | Capacity: 12,000 | Capacity: 12,000 |
Lyon |
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Stade de Gerland |
Capacity: 45,000 |
Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Great Britain | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 44 | +49 | 6 | Advances to the Final |
Australia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 61 | 41 | +20 | 4 | |
France | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 33 | 53 | −20 | 2 | |
New Zealand | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 82 | −49 | 0 |
28 October 1972 | France | 20 – 9 | New Zealand | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille |
29 October 1972 | Great Britain | 27 – 21 | Australia | Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpingnan |
1 November 1972 | France | 4 – 13 | Great Britain | Stade Lesdiguières, Grenoble |
1 November 1972 | Australia | 9 – 5 | New Zealand | Parc des Princes, Paris |
4 November 1972 | Great Britain | 53 – 19 | New Zealand | Stade du Hameau, Pau |
5 November 1972 | France | 9 – 31 | Australia | Stadium Municipal, Toulouse |
11 November 1972 |
Great Britain | 10–10 (AET) | Australia |
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Tries: Clive Sullivan Mike Stephenson Goals: Terry Clawson (2) | [1] | Tries: John O'Neill Arthur Beetson Goals: Ray Branighan (2) |
Great Britain | Australia |
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The French public seemed uninterested in a final that did not involve the home team, as just over 4,200 spectators turned up. The game will always be remembered by the British for their captain Clive Sullivan's wonderful long distance try [2] [3] and by the Australians for perhaps "the greatest try never scored", [4] later shown on TV to be legitimately scored by Australian fullback Graeme Langlands but disallowed by French referee Georges Jameau. [5] Mike Stephenson scored the 73rd-minute try that helped Great Britain level the scores and secure the World Cup. [6] Had Aussie winger Ray Branighan succeeded with a 79th-minute penalty or Bob Fulton landed one of three drop goal attempts in the last five minutes, the cup could easily have gone to Australia. But for the first time in the competition's history the scores were level at full-time. An additional twenty minutes extra time was played, but no further score resulted, and Great Britain were awarded the cup by virtue of a better position in the table.
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The 1972 Rugby League World Cup final was the conclusive game of the 1972 Rugby League World Cup tournament and was played between Great Britain and Australia on 11 November 1972 at the Stade de Gerland ground in Lyon, France. The final was played before 4,231 fans who witnessed what is the last British team to win the Rugby League World Cup.
This is a list of the teams which took part at the 1972 Rugby League World Cup.