| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host nation |  France |
| Dates | 30 October – 13 November |
| No. of nations | 4 (reduced from 5) |
| Final positions | |
Champions  |  Great Britain (1st title) |
Runner-up  | France |
Third place  |  Australia |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 7 |
| Attendance | 138,329 (19,761 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Jimmy Ledgard (29) |
| Most tries | Gordon Brown (6) |
1957 → | |
The1954 Rugby League World Cup wasrugby league's firstWorld Cup and was held between 30 October and 13 November and hosted by France[1] and was won byGreat Britain who beatFrance in the final at theParc des Princes inParis.[2] As it was the first official World Cup of eitherrugby code, it was officially known as theRugby World Cup.[3]
Five nations were invited to compete:Australia,France,Great Britain,New Zealand andthe United States, however the United States withdrew before the group stage draw.
The prime instigators behind the idea of holding a rugby league world cup were the French, who were short of money following theseizure of their assets byFrench rugby union during the Second World War.
The first Rugby League World Cup was an unqualified success. It was played in a uniformly good spirit, provided an excellent standard of play and was a fitting celebration of France's 20th anniversary as a rugby league-playing nation. The trophy, which was donated by the French, was worth eight million francs.[4]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(November 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The World Cup was a French initiative. Led byPaul Barrière, who donated theRugby League World Cup trophy himself,[5] they had been campaigning for such a tournament since before the Second World War.
The uncertainty of the ultimate outcome was of particular interest. In the early 1950s all four competing nations were quite capable of beating each other – no test series in the period was a foregone conclusion.
If there were a favourite it was Australia who had just won back the Ashes. However, in 1953 they had lost series to both the French and the Kiwis, while Great Britain had defeated New Zealand on the second half of their 1954 Australasian tour.
The form book merely provided a conundrum which was made more confusing when the British were forced, through injuries and players making themselves unavailable, to select a raw and largely untried squad which was given little credibility by the cynics.
The captains for this historic event werePuig-Aubert (France),Cyril Eastlake (New Zealand),Clive Churchill (Australia) andDave Valentine (Britain). The referees were Warrington'sCharlie Appleton andRene Guidicelli (Perpignan).
Five teams were invited to participate in the first World Cup; Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand and the United States along with hosts, France.[6] There were concerns around the United States participation. The American All Stars who had toured Australia and New Zealand and drawn big crowds in 1953 but were heavily beaten in all their games as well as being beaten 31–0 by France in 1954.[7] This led to doubts around whether an American team would be competitive enough to compete with the United States withdrawing from the tournament. It had been suggested that Wales could replace the United States but were not invited as Great Britain were already participating.[8]
North America (0)
| Europe (2)
| Oceania (2) |
|
The games were played at various venues in France with the Final played at theParc des Princes inParis.
| Marseille | Paris | Toulouse | Lyon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stade Vélodrome | Parc des Princes | Stadium de Toulouse | Stade de Gerland |
| Capacity:49,000 | Capacity:38,000 | Capacity:37,000 | Capacity:30,000 |
 |  | _en_1939_(maquette_d%2527%25C3%25A9poque).jpg) |  |
| Bordeaux | |||
| Stade Chaban-Delmas | |||
| Capacity:30,000 | |||
 | |||
| Nantes | |||
| Stade Marcel-Saupin | |||
| Capacity:20,000 | |||
 | |||
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Britain | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 67 | 32 | +35 | 5 | Advance to theFinal |
| 2 |  France | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 31 | +19 | 5 | |
| 3 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 58 | −6 | 2 | |
| 4 |  New Zealand | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 82 | −48 | 0 |
| 30 October | France | 22–13 | New Zealand | Parc des Princes, Paris |
| 31 October | Australia | 13–28 | Great Britain | Stade de Gerland, Lyon |
| 7 November | Australia | 34–15 | New Zealand | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille |
| 7 November | France | 13–13 | Great Britain | Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse |
| 11 November | France | 15–5 | Australia | Stade Marcel Saupin, Nantes |
| 11 November | Great Britain | 26–6 | New Zealand | Stade Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux |
The 1954 Rugby League World Cup final was the conclusive game of the 1954 Rugby League World Cup tournament and was played between France and Great Britain on November 13, 1954, at Parc des Princes, Paris, France.
13 November |
| France | 12–16 | Great Britain |
|---|---|---|
| Tries:Raymond Contrastin Vincent Cantoni Goals:Puig Aubert (3) | Report | Tries:Gerry Helme Gordon Brown (2) David Rose Goals:Jimmy Ledgard (2) |
Parc des Princes,Paris Attendance: 30,368 Referee:Charles Appleton (England) Player of the Match:Don Robinson (Great Britain) |
