Australia 13–28 Great Britain — World Cup Table, 1954 Rugby League World Cup
31 Oct 1954 · Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France · Attendance: N/A
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1954 Rugby League World Cup: Australia 13–28 Great Britain, at Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France on 31 Oct 1954.
Scorers
| Australia | Tries: Wells (2); Kearney Goals: Pidding (2) |
| Great Britain | Tries: Brown (2); Jackson (2); Kitchen; Rose Goals: Ledgard (5) |
Teams
| Australia | Great Britain | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clive Churchill (Captain) | Fullback | Jim Ledgard | 1 |
| 2 | Noel Pidding | Wing | David Rose | 2 |
| 3 | Alex Watson | Centre | Phil Jackson | 3 |
| 4 | Harry Wells | Centre | Mick Sullivan | 4 |
| 5 | Ian Moir | Wing | Frank Kitchen | 5 |
| 6 | Ken McCaffery | Five-eighth | Gordon Brown | 6 |
| 7 | Keith Holman | Halfback | Gerry Helme | 7 |
| 8 | Duncan Hall | Prop | John Thorley | 8 |
| 9 | Ken Kearney | Hooker | Sam Smith | 9 |
| 10 | Roy Bull | Prop | Robert Coverdale | 10 |
| 11 | Norm Provan | Second Row | Basil Watts | 11 |
| 12 | Brian Davies | Second Row | Don Robinson | 12 |
| 13 | Peter Diversi | Lock | Dave Valentine (Captain) | 13 |
| Vic Hey | Coach | Gideon Shaw | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Rene Guidicelli |
| Touch judges | — not identified in sources found |
| Player of the match | — not identified in sources found |
Match report
This Lyon fixture, at the Stade de Gerland, was the second match of the tournament (the day after France had beaten New Zealand 22-13 in the opener) and was the opening World Cup fixture for both Australia and Great Britain. Great Britain, touring under coach Gideon Shaw and captained by the legendary Scottish loose forward Dave Valentine, took control in the first half, going in 12-5 up, and pulled away in the second half to win comfortably, 28-13. Australia, captained by fullback Clive Churchill and coached by Vic Hey, were competitive for periods — centre Harry Wells scored twice — but were undone by a dominant British pack and the reliable boot of Jim Ledgard, who kicked five conversions. Gordon Brown and Phil Jackson each scored twice for Great Britain. The result put Great Britain top of the early table and set the tone for their campaign — they would finish the group stage unbeaten and go on to beat France 16-12 in the final in Paris on 13 November, becoming the first-ever Rugby League World Cup champions. Gordon Brown finished as the tournament's leading try-scorer with six tries, two of them coming in this very match, and Jim Ledgard finished as the tournament's leading points-scorer. Australia, hampered by this opening loss, eventually finished third in the four-team table. This Lyon match is historically notable as the very first meeting between Australia and Great Britain in World Cup history.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1957 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 31–6 Great Britain
- 1960 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 10–3 Australia
- 1968 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 25–10 Great Britain
- 1970 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 11–4 Australia
- 1970 Rugby League World Cup (Final): Australia 12–7 Great Britain
- 1972 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 27–21 Australia
- 1972 Rugby League World Cup (Final): Great Britain 10–10 Australia
- 1977 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 19–5 Great Britain
- 1977 Rugby League World Cup (Final): Australia 13–12 Great Britain
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 15–24 Australia
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 12–26 Great Britain
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 0–14 Australia
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 16–10 Great Britain
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (Final): Australia 10–6 Great Britain