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History

The Rugby League World Cup was an initiative of the French, who had been campaigning for a Rugby League World Cup since 1935. The idea was further pursued in 1951 in post-war France, with the pioneer of the concept being Paul Barriere, the President of the French Rugby League. In January 1952 the idea gained momentum as Rugby Football League secretary Bill Fallowfield persuaded the Rugby League Council to support the concept. At a meeting held in Blackpool, England, November 1953, the International Board accepted Paul Barrie’s proposal that France should be the nation to host the first World Cup, the inaugural "Rugby World Cup" of either rugby code. In addition to the hosts, the tournament was intended to feature teams from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and America.[3] The first World Cup was held the following year, with all invited teams playing except for America, and Great Britain defeated France in Paris on 13 November to claim the title.
British captain Valentine in 1954

The World Cup was initially contested by the four Test nations: Australia, Great Britain, France and New Zealand. The teams played each other in a league format. After a final was played between the top two teams in 1954, it was decided that the team that finished first in the league standings would be declared the winner for the second World Cup in Australia in 1957. Australia proved victorious on their home ground.

After the successful 1960 competition, in which Great Britain won the title for the second time, there would be no further World Cup for 8 years. The competition had been scheduled to be held in France in 1965, this time with the inclusion of the South African team.[4] However after an unsuccessful tour of Australia, the French withdrew. The tournament was next held in 1968, and followed a 2 year cycle until the mid-1970s. The 1972 World Cup final ended in a 10-all draw, and the title was awarded to Great Britain by virtue of their superior record in the qualifiers.

In 1975 the competition underwent its most radical overhaul to date. It was decided to play matches on a home and away basis around the world, instead of in any one host nation. Furthermore, the Great Britain team was split into England and Wales. Australia won that tournament, and in 1977 it was decided that Great Britain should once more compete as a single entity. Although the final between Australia and Great Britain was a closely fought affair, public interest in the tournament waned due to the continuing tinkering with the format, and it would not be held again until the mid-1980s.

From 1985 to 1988, each nation played each other a number of times on a home and away basis. At the end of that period Australia met New Zealand at Eden Park. The match was a physical encounter, and Australian captain Wally Lewis played part of the match with a broken arm. The Kangaroos won the competition 25-12. This format was repeated from 1989–1992, and Australia defeated Great Britain 10-6 at Wembley Stadium in front of 72,000 people. This crowd remains a rugby league World Cup record.
Captains of the ten teams to contest the 2008 World Cup.

In 1995 the competition was once again restructured, and the largest number of teams to date (10) entered. New teams competing included Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and South Africa. Due to the Super League war, players aligned with the rebel competition were not selected by the ARL to represent the Kangaroos. This meant the absence of many star players from the Australian team's lineup. The tournament, which was also held to celebrate the centenary of the sport in England, was highly successful with over 250,000 people attending the group stages and over 66,000 people attending the final to see Australia defeat England 16-8.

Following the Super League war, the subsequent re-structuring of rugby league's international governing bodies meant that the proposed 1998 World Cup was postponed[5].

The 2000 world cup expanded the field further, with 16 teams entering. Blown out score lines meant that this tournament was not as successful as the previous one. In the same year, the first women's rugby league world cup was held.

In 2008 Australia hosted the tournament again and New Zealand became only the third team to win the World Cup.

Trophy

The original Rugby League World Cup trophy was commissioned by the French Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII president Paul Barriere at a cost of eight million francs and then donated to the Rugby League International Federation to be used for the inaugural competition in 1954.[6] This trophy would be used and presented to the winning nation for the next four tournaments.

After winning the World Cup in the 1970 tournament, the Australian team put the trophy on display in the Midland Hotel, Bradford. From there it was stolen and remained unseen for the next 20 years. Then in 1990 an unemployed father of four found the trophy amongst rubbish dumped in a ditch near the Bradford and Bingley Rugby League Club, Bingley.[7] It was returned to the Rugby Football League's headquarters in Leeds.

The original World Cup trophy reappeared during the 2000 Rugby League World Cup after it was found and presented to the victorious Australian team. The trophy featured again during the 2008 World Cup, when it was prominently used as the basis for the competition logo. It is likely this trophy will be retained for the 2013 competition and thereafter.

Format

The Rugby League World Cup has followed a varied range of formats throughout its history.

Since 1995, groups of teams have been placed in a qualifying pool followed by a finals system. The top teams in each pool qualify into the next round. In 1995, there were 10 teams split into one group of four, and two groups of three. The top two teams progressed in the group of four and the top team progressed from each of the groups of three into the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals progressed to the final.

In 2000, sixteen teams were split into four groups of four. The top two teams from each group progressed to the knockout quarter finals. The winners of the quarter finals played in the semi-final and the winners of the semi-finals progressed to the final.

The 2008 tournament followed a similar format to the 1995 competition. The 10 teams were split into one group of four, and two groups of three. Three teams progressed into the semi-finals in the group of four and the winners of the two groups of three went to a playoff for a position in the semi-final. The winners of the semi-finals progressed to the final.

Alternative formats

From 1954 until 1972 the World Cup competition had only featured four teams in Australia, Britain, France and New Zealand; because of this a current style format of World Cup would have been impractical and instead the RLIF adopted a league style format where each team played each other and whichever two teams sat atop of the table after the designated matches played off in a final and be declared champion. This style was again re-introduced for the 1977 tournament.

For the 1975 tournament a new format was introduced where no single country would hold the world cup but rather each country playing in the tournament would hold all home fixtures in their own country and play away in the country of their opposition. This style of tournament saw a further three countries enter the cup under the league format in England, Papua New Guinea and Wales. With the exception of the 1977 tournament this format was used all the way up until the 1995 competition. The current format also allows for the cost of the tournament to be reduced as all of the players are based in Australia.

Qualification

Since the 1995 tournament the majority of teams have had to qualify for the World Cup tournament. Teams from Europe have qualified through the European qualifying groups, Oceania and Pacific Island teams attempt to qualify for the tournament via Pacific qualifying groups and teams from the Atlantic region qualify through the Atlantic qualifying group. The remaining teams attempt to gain entry via the repêchage rounds of the World Cup qualifiers.

For the 2008 tournament five teams have been granted automatic entry into the cup and will therefore not have to gain admission through the qualifying stages. These five teams include England and the original four that entered the World Cup between 1954 and 1992 in Australia, France, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.

[rainbow]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_League_World_Cup[/rainbow]