1968 Rugby League World Cup
The fourth Rugby League World Cup was held in Australia and New Zealand in 1968. For the first time a world cup final was specifically pre-arranged (previous finals having only been used when teams were level on points). The group match between Great Britain and Australia attracted an attendance of 62,256, the highest for a rugby league World Cup match until 1992. The final was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground; a crowd of 54,290 watched Australia defeat France. The stars of a superb Australian team in the tournament were skipper Johnny Raper, second-rower Ron Coote, who scored spectacular tries in each and every game, and the dead-shot kicker Eric Simms, who harvested a record 25 goals (50 points).
The 1968 World Cup was the first to be played under limited tackles rules, the four-tackle rule applying. Financially it was a profitable venture for the competing nations.
Read more about 1968 Rugby League World Cup: Results
Famous quotes containing the words league, world and/or cup:
“Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward the Light Brigade!”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“In this world there’s room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goosestepped us into misery and bloodshed.”
—Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977)
“In poorer lands
No one touches the water of life.
It has no taste
And though it refreshes absolutely
It is a cup that must also pass
Until everybody
Gets some advantage....”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)