Australia 12–7 Great Britain — Final, 1970 Rugby League World Cup
7 Nov 1970 · Headingley, Leeds, England · Attendance: 18,776Highest-attended match of the tournament
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Final, 1970 Rugby League World Cup: Australia 12–7 Great Britain, at Headingley, Leeds, England on 7 Nov 1970.
Scorers
| Australia | Tries: Cootes; Williamson Goals: Simms (3) — exact attempts unconfirmed, sources conflict |
| Great Britain | Tries: Atkinson Goals: Dutton (2) — exact attempts unconfirmed, sources conflict |
Teams
| Australia | Great Britain | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Simms | Fullback | Ray Dutton | 1 |
| 2 | Mark Harris | Wing | Alan Smith | 2 |
| 3 | John Cootes | Centre | Frank Myler (c) | 3 |
| 4 | Paul Sait | Centre | Syd Hynes | 4 |
| 5 | Lionel Williamson | Wing | John Atkinson | 5 |
| 6 | Bob Fulton | Stand off/Five eighth | Mick Shoebottom | 6 |
| 7 | Billy Smith | Scrum half/Half back | Keith Hepworth | 7 |
| 8 | John O'Neill | Prop forward | Dennis Hartley | 8 |
| 9 | Ron Turner | Hooker | Tony Fisher | 9 |
| 10 | Bob O'Reilly | Prop forward | Cliff Watson | 10 |
| 11 | Bob McCarthy | Second row | Jimmy Thompson | 11 |
| 12 | Ron Costello | Second row | Doug Laughton | 12 |
| 13 | Ron Coote (c) | Loose forward/Lock forward | Malcolm Reilly | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Ray Branighan | Chris Hesketh | 14 | |
| 15 | Elwyn Walters | Bob Haigh | 15 | |
| Harry Bath | Coach | John Whiteley | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Fred Lindop (England) |
| Player of the match | Bob Fulton (Australia) — single-sourced, not independently confirmed |
Match report
The 1970 World Cup Final has gone down in rugby league history for its violence rather than its football — it's commonly nicknamed the "Battle of Headingley." Great Britain held the greater share of possession but made little of it, while Australia took their limited chances, going in 5-4 up at half-time via a John Cootes try and closing it out 12-7 with a second try from Lionel Williamson against a lone reply from John Atkinson.
The contest degenerated into sustained off-the-ball fighting throughout, culminating in the sending-off of Australia's Billy Smith and Great Britain's Syd Hynes in the final minute. It didn't end at the whistle: Australian fullback Eric Simms's attempt to shake hands with Atkinson after the match was met with a headbutt, triggering further scuffling that needed the referee and police to bring under control. Bob Fulton was named Australia's best player on the day (single-sourced).
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 13–28 Great Britain
- 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
- 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