1975 Rugby League World Cup
| 1975 World Cup | |
|---|---|
| Number of teams | 5 |
| Winner | Australia (4th title) |
| Matches played | 21 |
| Attendance | 204,476 (9,737 per match) |
| Points scored | 661 (31.48 per match) |
| Top scorer | Australia Mick Cronin (76) |
| Top try scorers | England Keith Fielding (7) Australia Ian Schubert (7) |
< 1972 1977 > | |
The 1975 Rugby League World Cup (officially known as the 1975 Rugby League World Championship[1] ) was the seventh World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams and ran from 2 March to 12 November. Australia were the winners for a fourth time after topping the group table.[2]
Unlike previous World Cups, there was no one host country, with the five participating nations hosting matches over eight months. Each team had to play the others on a 'home and away' basis. For the first time Great Britain did not compete and instead England and Wales entered to participate for the first time, taking advantage of a glut of Welsh talent in the British game at the time.
Teams
[edit ]Venues
[edit ]14 venues across the five competing countries hosted games of the 1975 Rugby League World Cup. Wales used their own home venue at Swansea, but also played home games in England in both Salford and Warrington. England also played a 'home' game against Wales at Lang Park in Brisbane, Australia.
| Australia Sydney | France Marseille | Australia Brisbane | England Bradford | England Wigan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney Cricket Ground | Stade Vélodrome | Lang Park | Odsal Stadium | Central Park |
| Capacity: 70,000 | Capacity: 49,000 | Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 40,000 |
| France Toulouse | England Leeds | France Bordeaux | New Zealand Auckland | England Salford |
| Stadium Municipal | Headingley | Stade du Parc Lescure | Carlaw Park | The Willows |
| Capacity: 35,000 | Capacity: 32,000 | Capacity: 30,000 | Capacity: 20,000 | Capacity: 17,000 |
| Wales Swansea | New Zealand Christchurch | England Warrington | France Perpignan | |
| St Helen's Rugby Ground | Addington Showgrounds | Wilderspool Stadium | Stade Gilbert Brutus | |
| Capacity: 15,000 | Capacity: 15,000 | Capacity: 15,000 | Capacity: 13,000 | |
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Results
[edit ]In this match Mick Cronin kicked nine goals.
England winger Keith Fielding created a new record by scoring four tries against a hapless French team at Bordeaux.
Kangaroo wing prodigy Ian Schubert also scored a hat-trick tries.
English stand-off Ken Gill ran in three tries.
In this match Jim Mills, the Wales prop, was banned for the rest of the season after an altercation. The ban was eventually lifted on 2 January 1976.
Final standings
[edit ]| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 198 | 69 | +129 | 13 |
| England | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 167 | 84 | +83 | 12 |
| Wales | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 110 | 130 | −20 | 6 |
| New Zealand | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 121 | 149 | −28 | 6 |
| France | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 40 | 204 | −164 | 3 |
Final challenge match
[edit ]As Australia had not beaten England to win the World Cup (a draw and a loss), a one off challenge match was arranged, although this was not officially classed as a Final as Australia had already been crowned Champions after topping the group.
The Kangaroos showed they were worthy World Champions with a comprehensive 25–0 win at Headingley in front of a disappointing crowd of 7,680 which was over 11,000 less than had attended the 1970 World Cup final, between Great Britain and Australia, at the same venue. England had shown little interest in playing the game.
Try scorers
[edit ]- 7
- 5
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 1
- Australia Ray Branighan
- Australia Graham Eadie
- Australia Tim Pickup
- Australia John Quayle
- Australia Johnny Rhodes
- England John Atkinson
- England Colin Forsyth
- England Jeff Grayshon
- England Brian Hogan
- England Thomas Martyn
- England Roger Millward
- England Mick Morgan
- England Steve Norton
- England Stuart Wright
- France Bernard Curt
- France René Terrats
- New Zealand Tony Coll
- New Zealand Tom Conroy
- New Zealand Murray Eade
- New Zealand John Greengrass
- New Zealand Lyndsay Proctor
- New Zealand John Smith
- New Zealand John Whittaker
- Wales Kel Coslett
- Wales Tony Fisher
- Wales Brian Gregory
- Wales John Mantle
- Wales Jim Mills
- Wales Clive Sullivan
- Wales David Treasure
- Wales Frank Wilson
References
[edit ]- ^ Clarkson, Alan (10 June 1974). "Fulton battles injury". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
- ^ Paddy McAteer (22 December 2010) "Whole World in their Hands" Archived 5 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine North West Evening Mail