1975 Rugby League World Cup

1975 World Cup
Number of teams5
Winner Australia (4th title)
Matches played21
Attendance204,476 (9,737 per match)
Points scored661 (31.48 per match)
Top scorerAustralia Mick Cronin (76)
Top try scorersEngland Keith Fielding (7)
Australia Ian Schubert (7)
Tournaments
 < 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

Main article: 1975 Rugby League World Cup squads

Venues

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

Warm-up games

The teams arranged a number of warm-up games against local opposition during the World Championship, detailed below.

England

Date Opponents Score Venue Attendance[3]
1 June Western Australia Won 40–2[4] Perth 6,000
7 June Toowoomba Won 25–16[5] Toowoomba 3,000
15 June Southern Division (NSW) Won 19–8[6] Gosforth 3,000
18 June North Island (NZ) Won 42–4[7] Huntly 2,490
29 June Illawarra Lost 12–15[8] Wollongong 4,000
2 July Brisbane Lost 10–21[9] Brisbane 9,000
6 July Papua New Guinea Won 40–12[10] Port Moresby 12,000

Wales

Date Opponents Score Venue Attendance[11]
5 June Ipswich Won 35–13[12] Ipswich 4,000
18 June Wellington Won 52–8[7] Wellington 2,000
22 June West Coast (NZ) Won 35–5[13] Greymouth 2,000
24 June Canterbury Won 25–18[14] Christchurch 2,500
1 July Auckland Lost 5–31[15] Auckland 12,000
3 July New Zealand Māori Won 18–12[16] Rotorua 2,500

France

Date Opponents Score Venue Attendance[17]
12 June Auckland Lost 3–9 Auckland 10,000
22 June Wide Bay Won 36–10 Bundaberg 4,000
25 June Lithgow-Oberon Won 24–17 Lithgow 1,360
27 June NSW Group 6 Lost 0–2 Campbelltown 2,600
29 June Monaro Lost 0–26 Queanbeyan 5,700

Australia

Date Opponents Score Venue Attendance[18]
30 September Auckland Won 17–6 Auckland 7,251
10 October Salford Won 44–6[19] Salford 5,357
12 October St Helens Won 32–7[20] St Helens 10,170
23 October Rouergue XIII Won 35–4 Albi 2,000
4 November Oldham Won 20–10[21] Oldham 3,575
9 November York Won 45–4[22] York 4,082

New Zealand

Date Opponents Score Venue Attendance[23]
15 May North Queensland Firsts Lost 16–20 Townsville
18 May Central Queensland Won 57–11 Rockhampton
21 May Northern Division Won 37–19 Tamworth
24 May NSW Country Firsts Won 33–26 Newcastle 6,000
27 May North Coast Lost 3–12 Tweed Heads
1 November South West France Won 39–4
4 November Barrow Won 24–0[24] Barrow-in-Furness
9 November Keighley Won 20–8[25] Keighley

Results

2 March
France 14 – 7 Wales
Stade Municipal, Toulouse
Attendance: 7,563
Referee: Fred Lindop England
16 March
England 20 – 2 France
Headingley, Leeds
Attendance: 10,842
Referee: Keith Page Australia (Harry Hunt England)
1 June
Australia 36 – 8 New Zealand
Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Francois Escande France
10 June
England 7 – 12 Wales
Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Don Lancashire Australia
14 June
Australia 30 – 13 Wales
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 25,386
Referee: Francois Escande France

In this match Mick Cronin kicked nine goals.

15 June
New Zealand 27 – 0 France
Addington Showground, Christchurch
Attendance: 2,500
Referee: Laurie Bruyeres Australia
21 June
New Zealand 17 – 17 England
Carlaw Park, Auckland
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Laurie Bruyeres Australia
22 June
Australia 26 – 6 France
Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: John Percival New Zealand
28 June
Australia 10 – 10 England
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 33,858
Referee: John Percival New Zealand
28 June
New Zealand 13 – 8 Wales
Carlaw Park, Auckland
Attendance: 9,368
Referee: Laurie Bruyeres Australia
20 September
Wales 16 – 22 England
Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington
Attendance: 5,034
Referee: Marcel Caillol France
27 September
New Zealand 8 – 24 Australia
Carlaw Park, Auckland
Attendance: 18,000
Referee: Fred Lindop England
11 October
France 2 – 48 England
Stade du Parc Lescure, Bordeaux
Attendance: 1,581
Referee: John Percival New Zealand

England winger Keith Fielding created a new record by scoring four tries against a hapless French team at Bordeaux.

17 October
France 12 – 12 New Zealand
Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Billy Thompson England
19 October
Wales 6 – 18 Australia
St. Helen's Rugby Ground, Swansea
Attendance: 11,112
Referee: John Percival New Zealand

Kangaroo wing prodigy Ian Schubert also scored a hat-trick tries.

25 October
England 27 – 12 New Zealand
Odsal Stadium, Bradford
Attendance: 5,507
Referee: Andre Lacaze France

English stand-off Ken Gill ran in three tries.

26 October
France 2 – 41 Australia
Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan
Attendance: 10,440
Referee: Billy Thompson England
1 November
England 16 – 13 Australia
Central Park, Wigan
Attendance: 9,353
Referee: John Percival New Zealand
2 November
Wales 25 – 24 New Zealand
St. Helen's Rugby Ground, Swansea
Attendance: 2,645
Referee: Georges Jameau France

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.

6 November
Wales 23 – 2 France
The Willows, Salford
Attendance: 2,247
Referee: Fred Lindop England

Final standings

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
Source:

Final challenge match

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.

12 November
England 0 – 25 Australia
Headingley, Leeds
Attendance: 7,680
Referee: Fred Lindop England

Try scorers

7
5
4
3
2
1

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Paddy McAteer (22 December 2010) "Whole World in their Hands" Archived 5 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine North West Evening Mail
  3. ^ "England World Cup Tour 1975". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  4. ^ "Easy win in WA". The Canberra Times. 2 June 1975. p. 14 – via Trove.
  5. ^ "Fiery league match expected". The Canberra Times. 10 June 1975. p. 1 – via Trove.
  6. ^ "Sporting Details". The Canberra Times. 16 June 1975. p. 9 – via Trove.
  7. ^ a b "Big wins for touring England and Wales". The Press. No. 33873. Christchurch. 19 June 1975. p. 30 – via Papers Past.
  8. ^ "England beaten". The Canberra Times. 30 June 1975. p. 14 – via Trove.
  9. ^ "England loses". The Canberra Times. 3 July 1975. p. 22 – via Trove.
  10. ^ "Commendable Effort By Our Players". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. 7 July 1975. p. 16 – via Trove.
  11. ^ "Dragons World Cup Tour 1975". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  12. ^ "Win for Wales". The Canberra Times. 6 June 1975. p. 1 – via Trove.
  13. ^ "Welsh league team beats a depleted West Coast side, 35-5". The Press. No. 33876. Christchurch. 23 June 1975. p. 3 – via Papers Past.
  14. ^ "Canterbury side holds robust Welsh to 25-18". The Press. No. 33878. 25 June 1975. p. 30 – via Papers Past.
  15. ^ "Wales loses again". The Press. No. 33884. Christchurch. 2 July 1975. p. 28 – via Papers Past.
  16. ^ "Revival rocks Maoris". The Press. No. 33886. Christchurch. 4 July 1975. p. 20 – via Papers Past.
  17. ^ "Les Chanticleers World Cup Tour 1975". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  18. ^ "Kangaroos World Cup Tour 1975". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  19. ^ "Rhodes sparkles in league win". The Canberra Times. 13 October 1975. p. 12 – via Trove.
  20. ^ "Eadie tops in 32-7 win". The Canberra Times. 14 October 1975. p. 20 – via Trove.
  21. ^ "Stand-in lock impresses". The Canberra Times. 6 November 1975. p. 24 – via Trove.
  22. ^ "Australian masters give a rugby lesson". The Northern Echo. 10 November 1975. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Kiwis World Cup Tour 1975". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  24. ^ "Youngsters shine in Kiwis' 24-0 league win". The Press. No. 33993. Christchurch. 6 November 1975. p. 30 – via Papers Past.
  25. ^ "Kiwis end with win". The Press. No. 33997. Christchurch. 11 November 1975. p. 40 – via Papers Past.
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