Related Research Articles
The 1954 Rugby League World Cup was rugby league football's first World Cup and was held in France in October–November 1954. Officially known as the "Rugby World Cup", four nations competed in the tournament: Australia, France, Great Britain and New Zealand. A group stage was held first, with Great Britain topping the table as a result of points difference. They went on to defeat France in the final, which was held at Paris' Parc des Princes before 30,368 spectators.
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.
The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. The team's colours are black and white, with the dominant colour being black, and the players perform a haka before every match they play as a challenge to their opponents. The New Zealand Kiwis are currently second in the IRL World Rankings. Since the 1980s, most New Zealand representatives have been based overseas, in the professional National Rugby League and Super League competitions. Before that, players were selected entirely from clubs in domestic New Zealand leagues.
The France national rugby league team represents France in international rugby league matches. They are referred to as les Chanticleers or less commonly as les Tricolores. The team is run under the auspices of the Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII.
Rugby league has been played in France since 1934. As with rugby union, rugby league was introduced by the English and the heartland of the game is in the south of France.
Puig Aubert, is often considered the best French rugby league footballer of all time. Over a 16-year professional career he would play for Carcassonne, XIII Catalan, Celtic de Paris and Castelnaudary winning five French championships and four French cups along with representing the France on 46 occasions. His position of choice was at fullback and after his retirement in 1960 he would go on to coach Carcassonne and France along with becoming head French national selector for several years.
Lyon Villeurbanne XIII are a semi-professional rugby league club from the town of Lyon, Rhône-Alpes in France. Formed in 1934 they are one of the oldest clubs in France. During the 1950s they won both the league and cup. They currently play in the Elite Two Championship which is the second tier. Their home stadium is the Stade Georges Lyvet and their player-coach for 2018-19 season is Sebastien Aguerra.
Jacques Merquey also known by the nickname of "Jackiew", as a French rugby footballer of the 1950s. A dual-code rugby international, his position was centre, later in his career this changed to stand-off. While Merquey started in union, he played the vast majority of his career in rugby league. He played his club rugby league for Marseille, Sporting Olympique Avignon XIII and Lezignan, becoming the most capped International, with 37 games for France. Merquey is the only Frenchman to play in the first three successive World Cups, in 1954, 1957 and 1960.
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.
George Fairbairn is a Scottish former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached rugby league in the 1980s and 1990s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Borders, and at club level for Kelso RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain and England, and at club level for Wigan, winning the Man of Steel Award in 1980, and Hull Kingston Rovers, as a goal-kicking fullback, and coached at representative level rugby league for Scotland, and at club level Wigan, Hull Kingston Rovers, and Huddersfield.
Donald Robinson was an English World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s and 1970s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England, Yorkshire and Rugby League XIII, and at club level for St Joseph's School, Airedale Youth Club, Fryston Colliery, Kippax Juniors, Newmarket Colliery, Wakefield Trinity (captain), Leeds and Doncaster, as a centre, prop, second-row or loose forward, and coached at Doncaster and Bramley (late-1970s).
Thomas McKinney was a Northern Irish rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Jed-Forest RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain, Other Nationalities, British Empire XIII, Rugby League XIII and Combined Nationalities, and at club level for Salford, Warrington and St Helens, as a prop or hooker.
Gilbert Benausse was a French rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played at the international level for France, and at club level for AS Carcassonne, Lézignan Sangliers and Toulouse Olympique, playing at centre, stand-off, or scrum-half, i.e. number 3 or 5, 6, or 7.
Alister James Atkinson (1925-2002) was a New Zealand rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played representative rugby league (RL) for New Zealand in the 1954 World Cup. His position of preference was at Loose forward.
David Lory Blanchard was a New Zealand rugby union and professional rugby league football player who played representative rugby league (RL) for New Zealand in the 1954 World Cup and coached them at the 1970 World Cup. He also played for Hull FC in England during World War II.
The 1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand was the first ever tour of Australasia by any French sports team in history. Puig Aubert captained the France national rugby league team who played 28 matches in total in both Australia and New Zealand, winning 21 of them in what is regarded as the high point in the history of rugby league in France. The Australian Test series resulted in a 2–1 victory to France; however, the tourists then lost their match against the New Zealand national rugby league team. Welcoming the team home to Marseille, more than 150,000 people turned out for a street parade.
Raymond Contrastin was a French rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s. A France international representative winger, he has been inducted into the International Rugby League Hall of Fame. He started playing rugby union for SA Condom until 1947, before joining RC Roanne XIII, with which he was French champion in 1928 and for Bordeaux XIII, with which he won the 1954 title. Contrastin featured in the 1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand, Les Chanticleers first such tour, during which they lost four of their 28 games.
Hunslet F.C. was a professional rugby league club based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was a founding member of the Rugby Football League in 1895.
René Duffort is a French former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer and coach who represented France national rugby league team and coached them in multiple Rugby League World Cups.
References
- ↑ Joseph Crespo rugbyleagueproject.org
- ↑ "Wikiwix's cache". archive.wikiwix.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)