Great Britain 16–12 France — Final, 1954 Rugby League World Cup
13 Nov 1954 · Parc des Princes, Paris, France · Attendance: 30,368
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Final, 1954 Rugby League World Cup: Great Britain 16–12 France, at Parc des Princes, Paris, France on 13 Nov 1954.
Scorers
| Great Britain | Tries: Helme; Brown (2); Rose Goals: Ledgard (2) |
| France | Tries: Contrastin; Cantoni Goals: Aubert (3) |
Teams
| Great Britain | France | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Ledgard | Fullback | Puig Aubert (Captain) | 1 |
| 2 | David Rose | Wing | Vincent Cantoni | 2 |
| 3 | Phil Jackson | Centre | Claude Teisseire | 3 |
| 4 | Albert Naughton | Centre | Jacques Merquey | 4 |
| 5 | Mick Sullivan | Wing | Raymond Contrastin | 5 |
| 6 | Gordon Brown | Five-eighth | Antoine Jiminez | 6 |
| 7 | Gerry Helme | Halfback | Joseph Crespo | 7 |
| 8 | John Thorley | Prop | Joseph Krawzyk | 8 |
| 9 | Sam Smith | Hooker | Jean Audoubert | 9 |
| 10 | Robert Coverdale | Prop | Francois Rinaldi | 10 |
| 11 | Basil Watts | Second Row | Armand Save | 11 |
| 12 | Don Robinson | Second Row | Jean Pambrun | 12 |
| 13 | Dave Valentine (Captain) | Lock | Gilbert Verdie | 13 |
| Gideon Shaw | Coach | Rene Duffort / Jean Duhau | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Charles Appleton (England) |
| Player of the match | Don Robinson (Great Britain) |
Match report
The inaugural World Cup final: France and Great Britain, the top two from the round-robin group stage, met again at Paris's Parc des Princes to decide the first-ever champion. Great Britain won 16-12 in front of 30,368 spectators, with Gordon Brown scoring twice and Don Robinson named player of the match. The group stage itself had been tight — Great Britain and France finished level on points (5 each) after France held Great Britain to a 13-13 draw, with Great Britain going through as group winners on points difference. Great Britain made one change from their group-stage lineup: Albert Naughton came in at centre for the injured Frank Kitchen, with Mick Sullivan shifting from centre to wing — corroborated independently by Naughton's own biography. France's Armand Save started at second row in place of Guy Delaye, who was named among the reserves — corroborated independently by Delaye's own biography.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 13–13 Great Britain
- 1957 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 5–23 Great Britain
- 1960 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 33–7 France
- 1968 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 7–2 Great Britain
- 1970 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 6–0 France
- 1972 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 4–13 Great Britain
- 1977 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 4–23 Great Britain
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 10–10 Great Britain
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 52–4 France
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 10–45 Great Britain
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 36–0 France