1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup

From The Right Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

1989–1992 (1989–1992) Rugby League World Cup  ()
Number of teams5
WinnerFile:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia (7th title)
Matches played21
Attendance300,059 (14,289 per match)
Points scored834 (39.71 per match)
Top scorerAustralia Mal Meninga (70)
Top try scorerAustralia Mal Meninga (7)
Tournaments
1995 > 

The 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (sometimes shortened to 1992 Rugby League World Cup) was the tenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup, and continued to use the three-year format, stretching across the years 1989 to 1992. As with the 1985–1988 World Cup, teams 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 1992 Rugby League World Cup final. The matches went strictly to form, with Australia undefeated and certain to claim a world cup final berth as early as 1991. France and Papua New Guinea were uncompetitive, leading to a straight fight between New Zealand and Great Britain for the right to meet the Kangaroos in the final. In the event the Lions were able to just edge out the Kiwis on points difference. As they had done in 1988, Australia had won the right to host the World Cup final. However, with the potential for a much larger attendance, the Australian Rugby League agreed to allow Great Britain to host the game at the 82,000 capacity Wembley Stadium in London. The final was a surprisingly close affair, with Great Britain leading with only 12 minutes to go. The game's only try was then scored by centre Steve Renouf in his international debut for the Kangaroos and Australia were able to claim their fourth consecutive World Cup title before a world record international rugby league attendance of 73,631.[1]

Venues

Australia Brisbane England Leeds New Zealand Auckland England Wigan
Lang Park Elland Road Mount Smart Stadium Central Park
Capacity: 32,500 Capacity: 32,500 Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 30,000
File:Suncorp-Stadium-Milton-Queensland.jpg File:Elland rd2.jpg File:EricssonStadium00.jpg File:Central park kop.jpg
New Zealand Christchurch New Zealand Christchurch Papua New Guinea Port Moresby England Hull
Queen Elizabeth II Park Addington Showgrounds Lloyd Robson Oval The Boulevard
Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 18,000 Capacity: 17,000 Capacity: 16,000
File:CHCH City - Stadium1.jpg File:Addington Rugby Stadium.jpg File:The Boulevard rugby league ground Hull.jpg
France Perpignan Australia Parkes Papua New Guinea Goroka Australia Townsville
Stade Gilbert Brutus Pioneer Oval Danny Leahy Oval Townsville Sports Reserve
Capacity: 13,000 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 12,000
File:Tribune Guasch Laborde.JPG
France Carcassonne
Stade Albert Domec
Capacity: 10,000
File:Stade Albert Domec Entrée.jpg

Final

The World Cup final was played at Wembley Stadium in London.

England London
Wembley Stadium
Capacity: 82,000
File:The old Wembley Stadium (cropped).jpg

Matches

See also: 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup players

Group stage

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia 8 8 0 0 236 68 +168 16 Advances to the Final
File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain 8 5 0 3 215 79 +136 10
File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 8 5 0 3 203 120 +83 10
File:Flag of France.svg France 8 2 0 6 80 247 −167 4
File:Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg Papua New Guinea 8 0 0 8 84 304 −220 0
Source: RLWC2013

1989

The first match of the 1989–1992 World Cup was also the 3rd test of the 1989 Trans-Tasman Test series which was won 3–0 by Australia

3 December 1989
France File:Flag of France.svg 0–34 File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
Stade d'Albert Domec, Carcassonne
Attendance: 4,208

1990

27 June 1990
Australia File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg 34–2 File:Flag of France.svg France
Pioneer Oval, Parkes, New South Wales
Attendance: 12,384

This match was also the 3rd and deciding test of the 1990 Ashes series.

1991

23 June 1991
New Zealand File:Flag of New Zealand.svg 32–10 File:Flag of France.svg France
Addington Showground, Christchurch
Attendance: 2,000

This match was also the 3rd and deciding test of the 1991 Trans-Tasman series.

Australian winger Willie Carne crossed for a hat trick of tries in Port Moresby.

1992

7 March 1992
Great Britain File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg 36–0 File:Flag of France.svg France
The Boulevard, Kingston-upon-Hull
Attendance: 5,250
3 July 1992
Australia File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg 16–10 File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain
Tries:
Daley
Meninga
Goals:
Meninga (4) 		Tries:
Offiah
Goals:
Eastwood (3)
Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 32,313
Player of the Match: Paul Sironen (Australia)

In addition to being an allocated World Cup match, this was the third, deciding test of the 1992 Ashes series. This six-point margin of defeat meant that New Zealand would need to beat Papua New Guinea by 109 points in the following match to prevent a Great Britain-Australia World Cup final in October.[2]

Final

Main article: 1992 Rugby League World Cup final
24 October 1992
2:30PM (BST)
Great Britain File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg 6–10 File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia
Tries:

Goals:
Deryck Fox (3/4) 		Tries:
Steve Renouf
Goals:
Mal Meninga (3/4)
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 73,631[3]
Referee: Dennis Hale New Zealand
Player of the Match: Steve Walters
FB 1 Joe Lydon
RW 2 Alan Hunte
RC 3 Gary Connolly
LC 4 Garry Schofield (c)
LW 5 Martin Offiah
SO 6 Shaun Edwards
SH 7 Deryck Fox
PR 8 Kevin Ward
HK 9 Martin Dermott
PR 10 Andy Platt
SR 11 Denis Betts
SR 12 Phil Clarke
LK 13 Ellery Hanley
Substitutions:
IC 14 John Devereux
IC 15 Alan Tait
IC 16 Kelvin Skerrett
IC 17 Richard Eyres
Coach:
England Mal Reilly
FB 1 Tim Brasher
RW 2 Willie Carne
RC 3 Steve Renouf
LC 4 Mal Meninga (c)
LW 5 Michael Hancock
FE 6 Brad Fittler
HB 7 Allan Langer
PR 8 Glenn Lazarus
HK 9 Steve Walters
PR 10 Mark Sargent
SR 11 Paul Sironen
SR 12 Bob Lindner
LF 13 Bradley Clyde
Substitutions:
IC 14 David Gillespie
IC 15 Kevin Walters
IC 16 John Cartwright
IC 17 Chris Johns
Coach:
Australia Bob Fulton

This match set a new world record attendance for a rugby league international of 73,631, beating the previous record of 70,204 set at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the 1932 Ashes series.[4] As they had done in 1988, Australia won the right to host the World Cup final. However, in the interests of rugby league, and the potential for a much larger attendance since at the time Lang Park in Brisbane could only hold 33,000, and the Sydney Football Stadium could only seat 42,000, the ARL agreed to Great Britain hosting the final at the 82,000 capacity Wembley. Unlike 1988 when Australia had agreed to let New Zealand host the Final at Eden Park in Auckland due to dwindling international attendances in Australia, the international game had become popular again over the next four years (mainly due to much improved performances by Great Britain and New Zealand) and there was a good chance of sell-out crowd in either Brisbane or Sydney for the game. However, the potential for an attendance at Wembley that would be almost or more than double the size that could be seen in Australia, and the potential exposure from playing the game at one of the world's most iconic stadiums, could not be ignored. Both coaches picked experienced teams, with only Australian's Tim Brasher (fullback) and Steve Renouf (centre) making their international debut in the game. With incumbent fullback Andrew Ettingshausen unavailable through injury, Australian coach Bob Fulton preferred utility outside back Brasher over Newcastle Knights fullback Brad Godden due to Brasher's previous big game experience having played in Balmain's 1989 Grand Final loss as well as making his State of Origin debut earlier in the year. Fulton also chose seven members from the Brisbane Broncos 1992 Winfield Cup premiership winning team including exciting centre Renouf. Lions coach Mal Reilly chose to retain Garry Schofield as captain despite the presence of Ellery Hanley in the team. He also went with pace on the wings with Martin Offiah and St. Helens flyer Alan Hunte. The hard-fought final was a one-try affair, with Great Britain leading 6–4 with only 12 minutes remaining.[5] The only try of the match was then set up by Australian replacement back Kevin Walters, who, with a clever cut-out pass, put his Broncos teammate Steve Renouf into a gap not covered by replacement Lions centre John Devereux. Renouf, in his debut test for Australia, then raced 20 metres to score in the corner.[6] Otherwise, the two teams' kickers (Mal Meninga and Deryck Fox) were called upon to score most of the points, including Meninga's pressure sideline conversion of Renouf's try. The rain started pouring in the second half and Australia was able to hold Great Britain out and maintain their lead until the final siren. Australia's triumph saw them win their fourth World Cup in a row after winning the previous cups in 1975, 1977 and 1988. It also ended a mini-hoodoo for the Kangaroos at London's Wembley Stadium. Australia had previously left the arena 21–12 losers in 1973, and the 1990 Kangaroos were outplayed by Great Britain 19–12, but when it mattered most this time around Australia proved themselves as worthy World Cup champions. The match was telecast live late at night throughout Australia on the Nine Network, with commentary provided by Ray Warren, Peter Sterling and Paul Vautin, with sideline comments from Chris Bombolas. The game broke Australia's midnight-to-dawn television ratings record which was set a year earlier by the rugby union's 1991 Rugby World Cup final.[7]

Try scorers

7
5
4
3
2
1

References

  1. ↑ Kdouh, Fatima (28 November 2013). "We take a look back at the greatest Rugby League World Cup finals of all time". The Daily Telegraph.
  2. ↑ Meninga breaks Britain's resistance (independent.co.uk)
  3. ↑ 1992 Rugby League World Cup final
  4. ↑ Wilson, Andy (4 November 2011). "Wembley Rugby League internationals – in pictures". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ "1989 – 1992: AUSTRALIA". rlwc2013.com. Rugby League International Federation. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  6. ↑ Roberts, Michael (2008). Great Australian Sporting Moments. Australia: The Miegunyah Press. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-522-85547-0.
  7. ↑ Oliver, Robin (27 October 1992). "'Roos give 9 early-hours record". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 6.

External links

Retrieved from "https://rightwiki.org/index.php?title=1989–1992_Rugby_League_World_Cup&oldid=4119507"