Ladder
| 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 |
The 1972 Rugby League World Cup group stage was the main component of the 1972 Rugby League World Cup, with the top two nations qualifying for the World Cup final. The group consisted of hosts France as well as Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand.
| 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 |
Saturday 28 October |
| France | 20–9 | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Jean-Marie Bonal (2) Andre Ruiz Goals: Bernard Guilhem (4) Jean-Marie Bonal (1) Field Goals: Marius Frattini (1) | [1] | Tries: Phillip Orchard (2) Mocky Brereton Goals: |
         France |     New Zealand |
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France kicked off the tournament by sharing six tries with the Kiwis but a massive penalty count in their favour allowed the French to dictate play, their five goals and a drop goal to none by the Kiwis proving decisive.
Sunday 29 October |
| Great Britain | 27–21 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: John Atkinson Phil Lowe Dennis O'Neill Mike Stephenson Clive Sullivan Goals: Terry Clawson (6/6) | [2] | Tries: Bob Fulton (3) Tommy Raudonikis Goals: Graeme Langlands (4) Field Goals: Bob McCarthy (1) |
  Great Britain |     Australia |
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At Perpignan a monumental struggle finally went Britain's way 27–21 against the Kangaroos, for whom Bob Fulton grabbed three tries in a lost cause.
Wednesday 1 November |
| France | 4–13 | Great Britain |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Goals: Jean-Marie Bonal (1) Victor Serrano (1) | [3] | Try: Phil Lowe (2) Clive Sullivan Goals: |
France | Great Britain |
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Great Britain overcame France 13–4 to qualify for the final with outstanding second-rower Phil Lowe scoring two tries.
Wednesday 1 November |
| Australia | 9–5 | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Bob Fulton Dennis Ward Goals: Ray Branighan (1) Field Goals: Bob Fulton (1) | [4] | Tries: John Whittaker Goals: John Wilson (1) |
Australia | New Zealand |
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New Zealand gave Australia a hard time, the first half being scoreless, before going down 9–5.
Saturday 4 November |
| Great Britain | 53–19 | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: John Atkinson (2) John Holmes (2) Paul Charlton Chris Hesketh David Jeanes Steve Nash George Nicholls Mike Stephenson Clive Sullivan Goals: John Holmes (10) | [5] | Tries: Bill Burgoyne Tony Coll Murray Eade John Whittaker Dennis Williams Goals: John Wilson (2) |
Great Britain | New Zealand |
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Great Britain hammered New Zealand 53–19, a World Cup record score, with young stand-off John Holmes collecting 26 points (10 goals, 2 tries) – another World Cup record.
Sunday 5 November |
| France | 9–31 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Andre Ruiz Goals: Jean-Marie Bonal (3) | [6] | Tries: Mark Harris (2) Paul Sait (2) Bob Fulton John O'Neill Elwyn Walters Goals: Ray Branighan (5) |
France | Australia |
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Australia had to beat France at Toulouse to reach the final in the last game of the preliminaries, a task which proved well within their capabilities.
The 1968 Rugby League World Cup tournament was the fourth staging of the Rugby League World Cup, and was held in Australia and New Zealand during May and June in 1968. Contested by the men's national rugby league football teams of the two host countries plus Great Britain and France, for the first time a final to determine the World Cup was specifically pre-arranged. Financially it was a profitable venture for the competing nations.
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The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions.
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Matthew John Ridge is a New Zealand television presenter, and a former rugby union and rugby league footballer.
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament contested by the top national men's representative teams. The tournament is administered by the International Rugby League and was first held in France in 1954, which was the first World Cup held for any form of rugby football.
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The Australia women's national rugby league team, also known as the Australian Jillaroos, or Harvey Norman Jillaroos for sponsorship reasons, represents Australia in women's rugby league. They are administered by the Australian Rugby League Commission and Australian Women's Rugby League.
The England women's national Rugby League team represents England in Women's Rugby League. They are administered by the Rugby Football League. As Great Britain, they toured Australia in 1996, New Zealand in 1998, and reached the first-ever Women's Rugby League World Cup final in 2000, where they lost 26–4 to New Zealand.
1954 Rugby League World Cup group stage was the main component of the 1954 Rugby League World Cup, with the top two nations qualifying for the final. The group comprised Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and France.
The 1988 Rugby League World Cup final was the conclusive game of the 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup tournament and was played between New Zealand and Australia on 9 October 1988 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Australia won the final by 25 points to 12 in front of a New Zealand rugby league record attendance of 47,363. Australia, the defending champions, won the Rugby League World Cup for the 6th time.
The 2000 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team to compete at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. New Zealand dominated Group 1 of the tournament thrashing Lebanon, the Cook Islands and Wales with a combined score of 206–28, before winning their quarter-final against France and their semi-final against England to qualify for the final. In the final, they lost to defending champions Australia 12-40 to finish runners-up in a World Cup tournament for the second time.
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament currently played every four years. The first tournament was held in 1954, hosted by France who had pushed for such a tournament to be approved. Since the first edition, 14 others have been held at sporadic intervals.
