List of Rugby League World Cup opening matches

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

England fans ahead of the opening game of the 2021 World Cup at St James' Park England @St James Park.jpg
England fans ahead of the opening game of the 2021 World Cup at St James' Park

The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition established in 1954. The tournament has taken place fifteen times in irregular intervals, [1] however the tournament is currently happening every four years.

Contents

The opening match is the first match of the tournament and usually it has a ceremony to go with it. Often, it features the host nation.

List of opening matches

Italics denotes host nation.

YearWinning TeamFinal scoreLosing TeamVenueLocationAttendanceReferencesNotes
1954 France  Flag of France.svg22–13Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Parc des Princes Paris, France 13,240 Report
1957 Great Britain  Flag of the United Kingdom.svg23–5Flag of France.svg  France Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney, Australia 50,077 Report
1960 Great Britain  Flag of the United Kingdom.svg23–8Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Odsal Stadium Bradford, England 20,577 Report [lower-alpha 1]
Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg13–12Flag of France.svg  France Central Park Wigan, England 20,278 Report
1968 Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg25–10Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney, Australia 62,256 Report
1970 Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg47–11Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Central Park Wigan, England 9,805 Report
1972 France  Flag of France.svg15–10Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Stade Vélodrome Marseille, France 20,748 Report
1975 France  Flag of France.svg14–7Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Stadium de Toulouse Toulouse, France 7,563 Report
1977 Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg27–12Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Carlaw Park Auckland, New Zealand 18,000 Report
1985–1988 New Zealand  Flag of New Zealand.svg18–0Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Carlaw Park Auckland, New Zealand 15,327 Report
1989–1992 Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg22–14Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Mount Smart Stadium Auckland, New Zealand 15,000 Report
1995 England  Flag of England.svg20–16Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Wembley Stadium (1923) London, England 41,271 Report
2000 Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg22–2Flag of England.svg  England Twickenham Stadium London, England 33,758 Report
2008 England  Flag of England.svg32–22Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea Willows Sports Complex Townsville, Australia 10,780 Report [lower-alpha 2]
2013 Italy  Flag of Italy.svg32–16Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales Millennium Stadium Cardiff, Wales 45,052 Report [lower-alpha 3]
2017 Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg18–4Flag of England.svg  England Melbourne Rectangular Stadium Melbourne, Australia 22,724 Report
2021 England  Flag of England.svg60–6Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa St James' Park Newcastle upon Tyne, England 43,199 Report

Notes

  1. Two matches were played at the same time on the opening day.
  2. The opening ceremony was held the following day before a double header, with the matches being Indigenous Dreamtime 34–26 New Zealand Maori (not a tournament match) and Australia 30–6 New Zealand at the Sydney Football Stadium.
  3. This was the first match in a double header with Australia 28–20 England being the other match.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby World Cup</span> International mens rugby union competition

The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World champions of the sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rugby Championship</span> International rugby union competition

The Rugby Championship, formerly known as the Tri Nations Series (1996–2011), is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are traditionally the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a similar tournament in the Northern Hemisphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Rugby League World Cup</span> 13th Rugby League World Cup tournament

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final between Australia and New Zealand on 22 November.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">England national rugby league team</span> Team representing England in international rugby league

The England national rugby league team represents England in international rugby league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eden Park</span> Sports stadium in Auckland, New Zealand

Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is sometimes referred to as New Zealand's national stadium. The stadium is used primarily for rugby union in winter and cricket in summer, and has also hosted rugby league and association football matches, as well as concerts and cultural events. It is owned and operated by the Eden Park Trust Board, whose headquarters are located in the stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Rugby World Cup</span> 7th Rugby World Cup

The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated France 8–7 in the final. The defending champions, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals. The result marked the third time that the tournament was won by the country that hosted the event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Rugby League World Cup</span> 14th Rugby League World Cup tournament

The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013.

The Women's Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament, contested by the women's national team of the International Rugby League (IRL). The competition has been held since 2000 and was incorporated into the Festival of World Cups in 2008 until 2017 when it became a centrepiece event along with the men's competition. Under the current format, eight teams are separated into two groups of four with the top two in each group qualifying for the semi-finals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby League World Cup</span> International rugby league football tournament

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.

The Rugby League Four Nations was a rugby league football tournament run in partnership between Australia, England, New Zealand, and a guest nation which changed with every edition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wales at the Rugby World Cup</span>

The Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament held every four years and contested by the men's national teams of the member unions of World Rugby. The Wales national rugby union team has participated in all ten Rugby World Cup tournaments. Up to and including 2015, hosting of the tournament alternated between traditional rugby heartlands in the southern hemisphere and those in Europe. Wales was the primary host in 1999, with Cardiff's Millennium Stadium built to coincide with the event, and the other three tournaments played in Europe have also used venues in Wales to some degree. Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and its predecessor, the Cardiff Arms Park, will have hosted a total 21 matches over a total of four World Cups. This is the largest number of World Cup games hosted by one venue.

The 2017 Rugby League World Cup final was a rugby league match to determine the winner of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, played between reigning champions Australia and their rivals England on 2 December 2017 at Brisbane Stadium in Brisbane, immediately after the final of the concurrent women's competition.

The 2018 New Zealand rugby league season was the 111th season of rugby league played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the National Competition, run by the New Zealand Rugby League.

The 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the sixth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup, and was one of three major tournaments part of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 1 November to 19 November 2022. Originally planned for 2021, it was delayed a year along with the men's and wheelchair tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament featured eight teams, an increase of two from the previous tournament.

The Rugby League Pacific Championship is a rugby league tournament for national teams in Oceania. Its inaugural tournament was in 2019. Of the seven Oceanian teams, six compete across two divisions of three teams, while a rotating seventh goes on tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Rugby League World Cup</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Tri Nations Series</span> 2020 Tri Nations Series

The 2020 Tri Nations Series was the seventeenth edition of the annual southern hemisphere competition, involving Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. On 16 October 2020, 2019 Rugby Championship winners and 2019 Rugby World Cup champions South Africa confirmed their withdrawal from the originally planned 2020 Rugby Championship due to South African government travel restrictions, player welfare and safety concerns related to COVID-19. This meant that the competition temporarily returned to its previous Tri-Nations format - played across six weekends with each team playing each other twice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Rugby League World Cup</span> International rugby league tournaments held in 2022

The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup final</span>

The 2021 Rugby League World Cup final was the rugby league match to determine the winner of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, played between Australia and Samoa on 19 November 2022 at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup final</span>

The 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup final was the rugby league match to determine the winner of the 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup, played between the two finalists on 19 November 2022 at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.

References

  1. "Rugby League World Cup | History & Winners". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-03-26.