1970 Rugby League World Cup

1970 Rugby League World Cup was the fifth World Cup for men's National rugby league teams. Held between 27 October and 7 November and hosted in England. It was won by Australia who defeated Great Britain in the final.

1970 World Cup
Number of teams	4
Host country	England
Winner	Australia (3rd title)
Matches played	7
Attendance	68,710 (9,816 per match)
Points scored	205 (29.29 per match)
Top scorer	Eric Simms (37)
Top try scorer	John Cootes (5)
Tournaments  < 1968 1972 >

After winning the tournament, the Australian team put the World Cup trophy on display in the Midland Hotel in Bradford. From there it was stolen and remained unseen for the next 20 years.^[1]

Squads

Main article: 1970 Rugby League World Cup squads

Venues

Headingley in Leeds hosted a group game between Great Britain and Australia and also hosted the World Cup final.

Leeds	Wigan	Bradford
Headingley	Central Park	Odsal Stadium
Capacity: 30,000	Capacity: 40,000	Capacity: 40,000
Swinton	Hull	Castleford
Station Road	The Boulevard	Wheldon Road
Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 16,000	Capacity: 15,000

Results

21 October

Australia	47 – 11	New Zealand

Central Park, Wigan Attendance: 9,805

Australia beat the Kiwis easily at Wigan in the opening fixture with Eric Simms repeating his form of the 1968 tourney by landing a record ten goals.

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24 October

Great Britain	11 – 4	Australia

Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 15,084

Britain came from 0–4 behind to defeat Australia 11–4 at Headingley with Syd Hynes scoring the game's only try.

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25 October

France	15 – 16	New Zealand

The Boulevard, Hull Attendance: 3,824

The try of the tournament was scored by the sensational French winger Serge Marsolan against New Zealand in a mud-bath at Hull. Marsolan ran from behind his own line for a try fit to win any match but the lackadaisical French lost 15–16.

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28 October

Great Britain	6 – 0	France

Wheldon Road, Castleford Attendance: 8,958

The French put up a great fight against Britain in vile conditions, only to lose 0–6 at Castleford to three penalties from Ray Dutton.

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31 October

Great Britain	27 – 17	New Zealand

Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 5,609

Britain eliminated New Zealand from the tournament, cruising to victory with five tries to three.^[2]

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1 November

Australia	15 – 17	France

Odsal Stadium, Bradford Attendance: 6,654

This incredibly exciting game has been described as the tournament's piece de resistance. Aussie centre Bobby Fulton scored a try within seconds of the kick-off – probably the quickest ever in international matches. However, with ten minutes to go and the scores level at 15–15, the French stole the game when stand-off half Jean Capdouze dropped a monster goal. The Kangaroos' loss to France meant it was Australia's superior points differential (on the back of their pointsfest in the opening game against New Zealand) alone that got them into the final with the undefeated Great Britain team.

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
Great Britain	3	3	0	0	44	21	+23	6	Qualified for the World Cup final
Australia	3	1	0	2	66	39	+27	2
France	3	1	0	2	32	37	−5	2
New Zealand	3	1	0	2	44	89	−45	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Final

Main article: 1970 Rugby League World Cup final

7 November 1970

Great Britain	7–12	Australia
Tries: John Atkinson Goals: Ray Dutton (1) Field Goal: Syd Hynes	[3]	Tries: John Cootes Lionel Williamson Goals: Eric Simms (2) Field Goal: Eric Simms

Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 18,776 Referee: Fred Lindop

Great Britain

Australia

FB 1 Ray Dutton RW 2 Alan Smith RC 3 Syd Hynes LC 4 Frank Myler (c) LW 5 John Atkinson SO 6 Mick Shoebottom SH 7 Keith Hepworth PR 8 Dennis Hartley HK 9 Tony Fisher PR 10 Cliff Watson SR 11 Jimmy Thompson SR 12 Doug Laughton LF 13 Mal Reilly Substitutions: IC 14 Chris Hesketh IC 15 Bob Haigh Coach: Johnny Whiteley

FB 1 Eric Simms RW 2 Lionel Williamson RC 3 John Cootes LC 4 Paul Sait LW 5 Mark Harris FE 6 Bob Fulton HB 7 Billy Smith PR 8 John O'Neill HK 9 Ron Turner PR 10 Bob O'Reilly SR 11 Bob McCarthy SR 12 Ron Costello LK 13 Ron Coote (c) Substitutions: IC 14 Ray Branighan IC 15 Elwyn Walters Coach: Harry Bath

Having retained the Ashes, Great Britain were favourites to win the final,^[4] which would become known as the 'Battle of Headingley'^[5] due to its brutality. However it went completely against expectations as Britain failed to play any decent football despite overwhelming possession. The Kangaroos led 5–4 at half-time with a try to Australian three-quarter, Father John Cootes. They went on to utilise their meagre chances to the full, running out 12–7 victors. The game itself was an extended punch-up. The only surprise was that it took 79 minutes before anyone was sent off. Two sacrificial lambs, Billy Smith of Australia and Syd Hynes of Britain, were sent off the field in the last minute for what had been going unpunished throughout the game.

Try scorers

5

• John Cootes

4

• Serge Marsolan

2

• Bob Fulton
• John Atkinson
• Syd Hynes
• Garry Smith

1

• Ray Branighan
• Ron Coote
• Bob McCarthy
• Eric Simms
• Billy Smith
• Ron Turner
• Lionel Williamson
• Élie Bonal
• Jean Capdouze
• Chris Hesketh
• Doug Laughton
• Cliff Watson
• Mocky Brereton
• Roy Christian
• Graeme Cooksley
• Tony Kriletich