Great Britain 6–0 France — World Cup Table, 1970 Rugby League World Cup
28 Oct 1970 · Wheldon Road, Castleford, England · Attendance: 8,958
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1970 Rugby League World Cup: Great Britain 6–0 France, at Wheldon Road, Castleford, England on 28 Oct 1970.
Scorers
| Great Britain | Goals: Dutton (3) |
| France | No scorers recorded. |
Teams
| Great Britain | France | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ray Dutton | Fullback | Jean-Claude Cros | 1 |
| 2 | Keri Jones | Wing | Serge Marsolan | 2 |
| 3 | Syd Hynes | Centre | Michel Molinier | 3 |
| 4 | Frank Myler (Captain) | Centre | Andre Ruiz | 4 |
| 5 | John Atkinson | Wing | Elie Bonal | 5 |
| 6 | Mick Shoebottom | Five-eighth | Jean Capdouze | 6 |
| 7 | Keith Hepworth | Halfback | Germain Guiraud | 7 |
| 8 | Dennis Hartley | Prop | Christian Sabatie | 8 |
| 9 | Kevin Ashcroft | Hooker | Jacques Cabero | 9 |
| 10 | Cliff Watson | Prop | Francis de Nadai | 10 |
| 11 | Doug Laughton | Second Row | Gerard Cremoux | 11 |
| 12 | Jimmy Thompson | Second Row | Herve Mazard | 12 |
| 13 | Malcolm Reilly | Lock | Jean-Pierre Clar (Captain) | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| Floreal Bonet | 14 | |||
| Daniel Pellerin | 15 | |||
| John Whiteley | Coach | — not identified in sources found | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Fred Lindop (Wakefield) |
| Touch judges | — not identified in sources found |
| Player of the match | — not identified in sources found |
Match report
Great Britain hosted France under floodlights at Wheldon Road, Castleford, on Wednesday 28 October 1970, in what became a tight, low-scoring arm-wrestle rather than an open, try-scoring contest. Contemporary accounts describe the conditions as vile, with heavy rain and a difficult, greasy pitch making handling and open rugby extremely difficult for both sides. France, missing several of their better attacking chances in the mud, are recorded as having put up a great fight against the hosts, but were unable to find a way past a resolute British defence, nor able to convert any pressure into points of their own. Great Britain's fullback Ray Dutton was the difference: he kicked three penalty goals to give Great Britain a 6-0 win without either side crossing for a try — Great Britain led 4-0 at the interval on two of Dutton's goals. The result meant Great Britain remained unbeaten after two rounds of the World Cup Table, having already beaten Australia, keeping them firmly on course for a place in the final, while France's tournament campaign remained in the balance. Great Britain went on to complete a perfect round-robin record (three wins from three) to top the World Cup Table, but were then beaten 12-7 by Australia in the final at Headingley on 7 November 1970 — a quirk of the format's rules at the time, since the table winners still had to beat the second-placed side in a one-off final to be crowned world champions, and lost.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 13–13 Great Britain
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (Final): Great Britain 16–12 France
- 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
- 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