The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest upsets in the sports history.

Originally there was a plan to hold a World Cup in Australia in 2004, however the lack of competitiveness at the 2000 World Cup and rise of the Tri-Nations between Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain meant that plans for another World Cup were shelved.

For the World Cup to regain some credibility, the number of teams was reduced to ten with Australia, England, France, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand automatically qualifying and a qualifying tournament to determine the other five teams. The tournament ended a year of celebrations commemorating the centenary of the game in the Southern Hemisphere and was part of the Festival of World Cups.

Format

Qualification

The hosts, Australia, were given automatic entry into the World Cup, along with New Zealand, England, France and Papua New Guinea. The five remaining places in the World Cup were determined by qualification rounds. Two European rounds and Pacific, Atlantic and Repêchage rounds were scheduled.

Tonga and Fiji became the first two nations to qualify after Tonga defeated Samoa 18–10 in Leeds on 22 October, forcing Samoa to enter the repêchage. In the European Group Two, Ireland drew 16–16 with Lebanon to ensure qualification, while Lebanon were forced to enter the repêchage. The final automatic place went to Scotland, who defeated Wales 37–32 on aggregate after two legs. Wales then faced Lebanon in the repêchage semi-final, where they lost in a surprise 50–26 defeat, to knock them out of World Cup Qualifying. Lebanon then faced Samoa, who beat USA 42–10 in the first semi-final, on 14 November for the final qualifying position. The game was won by Samoa, 38–16, and so they booked the tenth and final place. Many qualification matches were broadcast live by Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, whilst BigPondTV broadcast matches online for other fans around the world.ARL – Tickets On Sale

TeamNicknameCoachCaptainRLIF Rank The KangaroosRicky StuartDarren Lockyer 1The LionsTony SmithJamie Peacock 3The BatiJoe DakuitogaWes Naiqama 6Les ChanticleersJohn MonieJerome Guisset 5The WolfhoundsAndy KellyScott Grix 9The KiwisStephen KearneyNathan Cayless 2The KumulsAdrian LamJohn Wilshere 7Toa SamoaJohn AcklandNigel Vagana 12The BraveheartsSteve McCormackDanny Brough 11Mate Ma'a TongaJim DymockLopini Paea4

Draw The draw, after being confirmed by the RLIF on 19 April 2007, involved three groups. The first group was made up of four teams; Australia, England, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Whilst the other two groups involved three teams each. The semi finals were made up of the first three teams in the first group and the winner of a playoff between the winners of the second and third groups.

The draw was put into doubt after the Papua New Guinea team claimed that it was unfair to them and threatened to boycott the tournament should it not be changed. Marcus Bai, former Papua New Guinean winger and captain, said:Papua New Guinea Threaten Boycott

Fortunately for the tournament, this separate island competition did not eventuate. Papua New Guinea still remained upset with the draw, seeing it as a huge challenge but one which would have seen them be rewarded if they had won. The draw was finalised on 4 October 2007.

The first match took place in Townsville between England and Papua New Guinea, although the official opening ceremony of the competition occurred before the Australia and New Zealand match the following day in Sydney. The final took place at Lang Park (Suncorp Stadium) in Brisbane.

Teams received 2 points for a win, and 1-point for a draw. This meant that, unlike in the Australasian National Rugby League, there was no "golden point" rule enforced. In group stages, if two teams had the same number of points then positions were determined on points difference, the number of points scored minus the number of points conceded.

After group matches were completed, a match featuring the second placed teams in Group B and Group C took place with the winner receiving 7th place. Similarly the third placed teams in Group B and Group C played off for 9th place. It was believed that these results were to be taken into account in the 2009 RLIF World Rankings.

Squads

Each nation competing in the tournament named 24-man squads in the weeks prior to the group stage commencing.Two More Vodafone Warriors in World Cup Teams NZ Warriors, 8 October 2008.Fiji, Ireland, Samoa, Scotland and Tonga sides Official RLWC08 site, 8 October 2008.

Venues Due to Rugby League World Cup rules prohibiting the use of commercial venue names, all venues were known by their non-commercial names, e.g. Suncorp Stadium was known as Lang Park during the tournament. Lang Park would also host the World Cup final. Brisbane Melbourne Sydney Gold Coast Lang Park Docklands Stadium Sydney Football Stadium Robina Stadium Capacity: 52,500 Capacity: 56,347 Capacity: 42,500 Capacity: 27,400 Townsville Newcastle Canberra Wollongong Willows Sports Complex Newcastle International Sports Centre Canberra Stadium Wollongong Showground Capacity: 26,500 Capacity: 26,126 Capacity: 25,011 Capacity: 23,000 Sydney Sydney Gosford Rockhampton Penrith Stadium Parramatta Stadium Central Coast Stadium Browne Park Capacity: 22,500 Capacity: 21,500 Capacity: 20,059 Capacity: 8,000

Officiating Six referees from four countries controlled matches in the tournament. These four nations also provided touch judges while England and Australia provided the video referees. In support of the Australian National Breast Cancer Foundation, the referees wore pastel pink shirts while officiating matches to raise awareness. The shirts, which carried the NBCF logo on the collar, were signed by the team captains at each World Cup game and were later auctioned off with the proceeds going to the NBCF.

Referees Thierry Alibert (France) Tony Archer (Australia) Steve Ganson (England) Shayne Hayne (Australia) Ashley Klein (England) Leon Williamson (New Zealand)

Video referees Steve Clark (Australia) Phil Cooley (Australia) Steve Ganson (England) Ashley Klein (England) Paul Simpkins (Australia)

Touch judges Adam Burns (New Zealand) Steve Chiddy (Australia) James Child (England) Tony De Las Hera (Australia) Paul Holland (Australia) Jose Perrara (France) Bernard Sutton (Australia) Gerard Sutton (Australia) Russell Turner (Australia)

Opening ceremony On Sunday night, 26 October, the Sydney Football Stadium hosted the Opening Ceremony of the World Cup. It started with Greg Inglis reciting a speech about "Playing Fair". Following Inglis' speech there was an Aboriginal Smoking ceremony to welcome all the athletes and participants. This included a rather large sized Rainbow Serpent which represented the Aboriginal Dreamtime. The last part of the ceremony involved a performance of the Rugby League World Cup anthem "Hero" by Natalie Bassingthwaighte. A curtain raiser to the Australia vs. New Zealand match included an Indigenous Australian squad playing against New Zealand Māori which featured several prominent NRL players and rising stars, including Chris Sandow, Wairangi Koopu, Preston Campbell, Sam Thaiday, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Carl Webb.

As part of the official opening of the World Cup on 26 October, an exhibition game was played between an Aboriginal selection and a New Zealand Māori side.Indigenous Dreamtime team named @ Official RLWC08 site, 11 October 2008.

Team lists:FB1 Rhys WesserWG2 Justin CarneyCE3 Maurice BlairCE4 Jamal IdrisWG5 Ty WilliamsFE6 Jamie SowardHB7 Preston Campbell (c)PR8 Carl WebbHK9Ian LaceyPR17 Peter JensenSR11 Daine LaurieSR12 Derrick WatkinsLK13 Dean WiddersInterchange:IC14 Chris SandowIC15 Rod JensenIC16 Yileen GordonIC10 George RoseIC18 Dennis MoranCoach: Neil HenryFB1 Bronx GoodwinWG2 Jordan RapanaCE3 Chase StanleyCE4 Karl JohnsonWG5 Shaun Kenny-DowallFE14 Charlie HerekotukutukuHB7 Rangi ChasePR8 Weller HaurakiHK9 Ben Ellis (c)PR10 Sam McKendrySR11 Craig SmithSR12 Wairangi KoopuLK13 Lee Te MaariInterchange:IC6 Arana TaumataIC15 Hep CahillIC16 Chance BunceIC17 James TamouIC18 Kevin ProctorCoach:Luke Goodwin

Group stage The 2008 Rugby League World Cup's eighteen matches were played during October and November in various locations throughout the east coast of Australia. The tournament's teams were divided into three pool groups. The teams finishing highest amongst those groups progressed to the play-offs.

All teams from group A (shaded in green) with the exception of the bottom qualifying team progressed to the semi-finals, the other two groups the top finisher progressed to a playoff match, in which the winner would qualify to the semi-finals.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Knockout stage

The top three teams from pool A advanced to the semi-finals, while the top teams from pools B and C played off in the qualifying final to decide the fourth spot in the semi-finals.

7th place play-off

9th place play-off

Quarter-final

Semi-finals

Final: Australia vs New Zealand

Statistics Try scorers 7 tries Billy Slater

6 tries Greg Inglis

5 tries Akuila Uate Damien Blanch

4 tries

Joel Monaghan David Williams Lance Hohaia Jerome Ropati Manu Vatuvei

3 tries

Scott Prince Johnathan Thurston Martin Gleeson Lee Smith Jarryd Hayne Jérôme Guisset Pat Richards Sam Perrett Michael Jennings

2 tries

Israel Folau Anthony Laffranchi Darren Lockyer Brent Tate Rob Burrow Ade Gardner Danny McGuire Jayson Bukuya Semi Tadulala John Wilson Adam Blair Simon Mannering Benji Marshall George Keppa George Carmont Francis Meli Misi Taulapapa Ben Te'o Matt Utai Nigel Vagana Jon Steel Oliver Wilkes Etuate Uaisele

1 try

Paul Gallen Anthony Tupou Jamie Peacock Mickey Higham James Roby Christophe Moly Sébastien Planas Sébastien Raguin Jared Taylor Iowane Divavesi Semisi Tora Wes Naiqama Liam Finn Simon Finnigan Sean Gleeson Scott Grix Michael Platt Greg Eastwood David Fa'alogo Nathan Fien Bronson Harrison Issac Luke Sika Manu Jason Nightingale Paul Aiton Jason Chan Rod Griffin Menzie Yere Joseph Paulo Frank Puletua Ben Roberts David Solomona Paddy Coupar Michael Robertson Tevita Leo-Latu Feleti Mateo Eddie Paea Fetuli Talanoa Esikeli Tonga Tony Williams

Attendances DateMatchVenueLocationAttendance25 October 2008Willows Sports ComplexTownsville10,78026 October 2008Sydney Football StadiumSydney34,15726 October 2008Canberra StadiumCanberra9,28727 October 2008Parramatta StadiumSydney6,16531 October 2008Penrith StadiumSydney11,7871 November 2008Wollongong ShowgroundWollongong9,2131 November 2008Robina StadiumGold Coast11,2782 November 2008Docklands StadiumMelbourne36,2975 November 2008Parramatta StadiumSydney8,0675 November 2008Central Coast StadiumGosford9,7208 November 2008Browne ParkRockhampton5,9428 November 2008Newcastle International Sports CentreNewcastle15,1459 November 2008Willows Sports ComplexTownsville16,2399 November 2008Penrith StadiumSydney8,02810 November 2008Robina StadiumGold Coast8,22415 November 2008Lang ParkBrisbane26,65916 November 2008Sydney Football StadiumSydney15,85522 November 2008Lang ParkBrisbane50,599

Critical reception