Australia 20–2 France — Final, 1968 Rugby League World Cup
10 Jun 1968 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia · Attendance: 54,290
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Final, 1968 Rugby League World Cup: Australia 20–2 France, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia on 10 Jun 1968.
Scorers
| Australia | Tries: Williamson (2); Coote; Greaves Goals: Simms (4) |
| France | Drop goals: Capdouze |
Teams
| Australia | France | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Simms | Fullback | Jean-Claude Cros | 1 |
| 2 | Johnny Rhodes | Wing | Daniel Pellerin | 2 |
| 3 | Graeme Langlands | Centre | Jacques Gruppi | 3 |
| 4 | Johnny Greaves | Centre | Jean-Pierre Lecompte | 4 |
| 5 | Lionel Williamson | Wing | Jean Ledru | 5 |
| 6 | Bob Fulton | Stand off/Five eighth | Jean Capdouze | 6 |
| 7 | Billy Smith | Scrum half/Half back | Roger Garrigue | 7 |
| 8 | John Wittenberg | Prop forward | Christian Sabatié | 8 |
| 9 | Fred Jones | Hooker | Yves Bégou | 9 |
| 10 | Arthur Beetson | Prop forward | Georges Aillères (c) | 10 |
| 11 | Dick Thornett | Second row | Francis de Nadaï | 11 |
| 12 | Ron Coote | Second row | Henri Marracq | 12 |
| 13 | John Raper (c) | Loose forward/Lock forward | Jean-Pierre Clar | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 15 | Elton Rasmussen | |||
| Harry Bath | Coach | André Lacoste | ||
Match officials
| Referee | John Percival (New Zealand) |
| Touch judges | — not identified in sources found |
| Player of the match | — not identified in sources found |
Match report
Australia entered the final as undefeated favourites, having beaten France 37-4 in the pool phase two days earlier. Instead France, under captain-coach Georges Aillères, defended tenaciously: they restricted Australia to just 7-0 at the break and were still only down 0-12 with a quarter of an hour left, a much closer contest than the pool meeting suggested.
Australia eventually pulled clear in the closing stages to win 20-2, sealing their second World Cup title (after 1957) unbeaten throughout the tournament. Jean Capdouze's field goal was the only score France could muster; Eric Simms's goal-kicking and tries from Lionel Williamson (2), Ron Coote and Johnny Greaves were central to the win.
Sourcing caveat: Research this session established that international rugby league field goals were worth 2 points (not 1) in 1968 (a rule change to 1 point followed in 1973), which resolves both sides' scoring exactly: Australia 4 tries + 4 goals = 12+8 = 20; France 1 field goal = 2. The Coote and Greaves tries (previously missing from this record) are strongly evidenced by the tournament's leading try-scorer tally (Williamson, Coote and Greaves are separately documented reaching their season try totals only if each scored in this Final) and by arithmetic necessity, though a primary contemporary source explicitly naming all four Australian tries in this specific match could not be located — treat the Coote/Greaves attribution as strongly-inferred rather than directly sourced.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 15–5 Australia
- 1957 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 26–9 France
- 1960 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 13–12 France
- 1968 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 37–4 France
- 1970 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 15–17 France
- 1972 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 9–31 Australia
- 1975 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 26–6 France
- 1975 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 2–41 Australia
- 1977 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 21–9 France
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 0–52 Australia
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 34–2 France
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 10–34 Australia
- 2017 Rugby League World Cup (Group A): Australia 52–6 France