1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup
1985–1988 | World Cup|
---|---|
Number of teams | 5 |
Winner | Australia (6th title) |
Matches played | 18 |
Attendance | 218,246 (12,125 per match) |
Points scored | 769 (42.72 per match) |
Top scorer | Michael O'Connor (100) |
Top try scorer | Michael O'Connor (8) |
< 1977 |
The 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (sometimes shortened to 1988 Rugby League World Cup) was the ninth Rugby League World Cup tournament held and saw yet another change of format with competition stretched to cover almost three years (1985 to 1988). The national rugby league teams of Australia, France, Great Britain, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea played each other on a home and away basis. These matches were fitted into the normal international programme of three-match test series between the nations, with a pre-designated match from each series counting as the world cup fixture. The tournament culminated in the 1988 Rugby League World Cup final.
The competition was further altered by the addition of a new nation, Papua New Guinea.[1] The Kumuls performed creditably, particularly when playing in the front of their fiercely patriotic home crowd, while France were unable to fulfil their 1987 tour of Australasia due to financial difficulties, and had to forfeit away fixtures against Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
At the end of four years, Australia finished top of the table, and, through a victory over Great Britain in Christchurch, the Kiwis qualified to join them in the final.
Despite finishing top of the table, poor international attendances since the mid-1970s (since 1974, the Kangaroos had only lost one test series, to France in 1978) meant the Australians declined to host the final, and asked New Zealand Rugby League to host the World Cup final at Eden Park in Auckland; Cup organisers and New Zealand officials accepted this request.
In front of a record New Zealand attendance of over 47,000 the Kiwis lost 25–12 to the Australians.
Venues
Sydney | Wigan | Brisbane | Leeds |
---|---|---|---|
Sydney Football Stadium | Central Park | Lang Park | Headingley |
Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 37,000 | Capacity: 32,500 | Capacity: 22,000 |
Auckland | Port Moresby | Christchurch | Avignon |
Carlaw Park | Lloyd Robson Oval
|
Addington Showgrounds
|
Parc des Sports |
Capacity: 20,000 | Capacity: 17,000 | Capacity: 15,000 | Capacity: 15,000 |
Perpignan | Wagga Wagga | Carcassonne | |
Stade Gilbert Brutus | Eric Weissel Oval | Stade Albert Domec | |
Capacity: 13,000 | Capacity: 12,000 | Capacity: 10,000 | |
|} |
Final
The World Cup final was held at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
Results
1985
9 November |
Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 22,209 |
1986
17 August |
Lloyd Robson Oval, Port Moresby Attendance: 15,000 |
4 October |
Lloyd Robson Oval, Port Moresby Attendance: 17,000 |
This match was the third
22 November |
Great Britain | 15 – 24 | Australia |
Central Park, Wigan Attendance: 20,169 Referee: J. Rascagneres |
This was the final Test match of the 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France.
13 December |
Stade d'Albert Domec, Carcassonne Attendance: 5,000 |
1987
24 January |
Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 6,567 |
15 November |
Stade d'Albert Domec, Carcassonne Attendance: 5,000 |
1988
22 May |
Lloyd Robson Oval, Port Moresby Attendance: 12,107 |
The victory lifted Great Britain above New Zealand into second place on the World Cup table on eight points – one ahead of the Kiwis.[2]
This was the end of a 15-match winning streak for the Australians,
The last group stage match for both teams turned out to be a sudden death battle for a spot in the final. For New Zealand nothing less than a win would get them to the Final while Great Britain only needed a draw. It was also the last Test match of the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour. The Kiwis victory meant they qualified to face Australia in the final at Eden Park, Auckland.
Australia's 62-point win set a new record for largest winning margin in international rugby league. Winger Michael O'Connor also set a new record for most points scored by an individual in international rugby league.[5] The sellout crowd of 11,685 also set a ground attendance record at Wagga Wagga's Eric Weissel Oval.[6]
Tournament standings
Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 252 | 91 | +161 | 12[a] | Qualified for the World Cup final |
New Zealand | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 158 | 86 | +72 | 11[a] | |
Great Britain | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 203 | 90 | +113 | 10 | |
Papua New Guinea | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 84 | 325 | −241 | 4[a] | |
France | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 35 | 140 | −105 | 3 |
Notes:
World Cup final
9 October 1988
14:30 |
New Zealand | 12–25 | Australia |
---|---|---|
Tries: Kevin Iro Tony Iro Goals: Peter Brown (2/5) |
[1] |
Tries: Ben Elias
|
New Zealand
|
Australia
|
|
|
The 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup saw
Despite Australia's successful
Despite
Try scorers
- 8
- 6
- 5
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 1
- Sam Backo
- Greg Conescu
- Tony Currie
- Steve Folkes
- Wally Fullerton-Smith
- Des Hasler
- Chris Mortimer
- Bryan Niebling
- Steve Roach
- Peter Sterling
- Gilles Dumas
- Cyril Pons
- Hugues Ratier
- Mark Forster
- Andy Goodway
- Andy Gregory
- David Hulme
- Paul Loughlin
- Martin Offiah
- David Stephenson
- Peter Brown
- Tony Iro
- Gary Kemble
- A'au James Leuluai
- Joe Ropati
- Adrian Shelford
- Kurt Sorensen
- Bobby Ako
- Lauta Atoi
- Arnold Krewanty
- Michael Matmillo
- Mea Morea
- Isaac Rop
References
- North West Evening Mail
- ^ "Schofield too hot for PNG". 22 May 1988. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ^ Baker, Andrew (20 August 1995). "100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era". The Independent. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
- Evening Times. 9 July 1988. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
- ^ "O'Connor helps set Test records". The Age. 21 July 1988. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
- ^ "Rugby League World Cup – Roo Tour Memories: Allan Langer". broncos.com.au. 18 October 2013. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
- RLIF.co.uk
- ^ BBC Sport – Rugby league – England to face New Zealand in 2010 Four Nations opener