Great Britain 10–10 Australia — Final, 1972 Rugby League World Cup
11 Nov 1972 · Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France · Attendance: 4,231
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Final, 1972 Rugby League World Cup: Great Britain 10–10 Australia, at Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France on 11 Nov 1972.
Scorers
| Great Britain | Tries: Sullivan; Stephenson Goals: Clawson (2) |
| Australia | Tries: O'Neill; Beetson Goals: Branighan (2) |
Teams
| Great Britain | Australia | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Charlton | Fullback | Graeme Langlands (c) | 1 |
| 2 | Clive Sullivan (c) | Wing | John Grant | 2 |
| 3 | Chris Hesketh | Centre | Mark Harris | 3 |
| 4 | John Walsh | Centre | Geoff Starling | 4 |
| 5 | John Atkinson | Wing | Ray Branighan | 5 |
| 6 | John Holmes | Stand off/Five eighth | Bob Fulton | 6 |
| 7 | Steve Nash | Scrum half/Half back | Dennis Ward | 7 |
| 8 | Terry Clawson | Prop forward | John O'Neill | 8 |
| 9 | Mike Stephenson | Hooker | Elwyn Walters | 9 |
| 10 | David Jeanes | Prop forward | Bob O'Reilly | 10 |
| 11 | Phil Lowe | Second row | Arthur Beetson | 11 |
| 12 | Brian Lockwood | Second row | Gary Stevens | 12 |
| 13 | George Nicholls | Loose forward/Lock forward | Gary Sullivan | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Bob Irving | Fred Jones | 14 | |
| Jim Challinor | Coach | Harry Bath | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Georges Jameau (France) |
Match report
Great Britain went through the group stage unbeaten (3-0) to reach the final against an Australian side that had lost once, to France. The match at Lyon's Stade de Gerland finished level 10-10 after normal time and a further 20 minutes of extra time, with no replay scheduled — the title went to Great Britain on their superior group-stage record, the only World Cup final in history decided that way.
British captain Clive Sullivan scored a long-range try still remembered as one of the tournament's best. Australian fullback Graeme Langlands appeared to score what television replays later suggested was a legitimate try, but it was disallowed live by French referee Georges Jameau — dubbed "the greatest try never scored." Mike Stephenson's 73rd-minute try for Great Britain levelled the scores; Australia had late chances to win it through a missed Ray Branighan penalty and three missed Bob Fulton drop-goal attempts, but the scores stayed level to the final whistle.
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
- 1970 Rugby League World Cup (Final): Australia 12–7 Great Britain
- 1972 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 27–21 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