2008 Rugby League World Cup

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament.[1] The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final between Australia and New Zealand on 22 November.

2008 (2008) World Cup  ()
Number of teams10
Host country Australia
Winner New Zealand (1st title)
Matches played18
Attendance293,442 (16,302 per match)
Points scored890 (49.44 per match)
Tries scored156 (8.67 per match)
Top scorer Johnathan Thurston
Top try scorer Billy Slater
Tournaments
 < 2000
2013 > 

2008 was the fourth time that the World Cup was held in Australia, the first being in 1957. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport. The tournament featured the best ten teams around the globe which were split into three groups. A total of eighteen matches took place in twelve different venues across four Australian states. 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.

The thirteenth Cup was scheduled to be held in Australia in 2004,[2] however the lack of international success by Great Britain and New Zealand after the 2000 World Cup and the rise of the Tri-Nations tournament meant that it was delayed for a further four years.[3] The Rugby League International Federation officially announced this tournament on 6 May 2006,[4] with further details on scheduling and dates following on 19 April 2007.[5]

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.[6] The final took place at Lang Park (Suncorp Stadium) in Brisbane.

The tournament proved a commercial success, delivering a profit of A$5 million and re-establishing the credibility of the competition.[7]

Format

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:[8]

They have to change it and if they don't, we won't come. We will ring up the other island nations and teams elsewhere who don't qualify and we can have our own competition. They have shown no respect for our country or for our efforts to promote the game up there.

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.[9]

Points

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.

Ranking matches

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.

Qualification
Main article: 2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying

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.[10] 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.[11]

Teams
See also: 2008 Rugby League World Cup squads
Team Nickname Coach Captain RLIF Rank
 Australia The Kangaroos Ricky Stuart Darren Lockyer 1
 England Tony Smith Jamie Peacock 3
 Fiji The Bati Joe Dakuitoga Wes Naiqama 6
 France Les Chanticleers John Monie Jerome Guisset 5
 Ireland The Wolfhounds Andy Kelly Scott Grix 9
 New Zealand The Kiwis Stephen Kearney Nathan Cayless 2
 Papua New Guinea The Kumuls Adrian Lam John Wilshere 7
 Samoa Toa Samoa John Ackland Nigel Vagana 12
 Scotland The Bravehearts Steve McCormack Danny Brough 11
 Tonga Mate Ma'a Tonga Jim Dymock Lopini Paea 4

Match officials

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.[12][13] 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.[14]

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

Opening ceremony
The 2008 World Cup's 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.

Welcome to the Country Match

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.[15]

26 October 2008
Indigenous Dreamtime 34–26  Māori
Try: Wesser (2)
Jensen (2)
Carney
Gordon
Goal: Soward (5)		 (report) Try: McKendry
Kenny-Dowall
Stanley
Rapana
Taumata
Goal: Goodwin (2)
Stanley
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 34,157
Referee: Tony Archer

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.

Key to colours in group tables
Advances to knockout stage

Group A
Main article: 2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
 Australia 3 3 0 0 128 16 +112 6
 New Zealand 3 2 0 1 90 60 +30 4
 England 3 1 0 2 60 110 −50 2
 Papua New Guinea 3 0 0 3 34 126 −92 0
Source:
25 October 2008England 32–22 Papua New GuineaWillows Sports Complex, Townsville
26 October 2008Australia 30–6 New ZealandSydney Football Stadium, Sydney
1 November 2008New Zealand 48–6 Papua New GuineaRobina Stadium, Gold Coast
2 November 2008Australia 52–4 EnglandDocklands Stadium, Melbourne
8 November 2008England 24–36 New ZealandNewcastle Stadium, Newcastle
9 November 2008Australia 46–6 Papua New GuineaWillows Sports Complex, Townsville

Group B
Main article: 2008 Rugby League World Cup Group B
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
 Fiji 2 1 0 1 58 24 +34 2
 Scotland 2 1 0 1 36 50 −14 2
 France 2 1 0 1 42 60 −18 2
Source:
26 October 2008France 36–18 ScotlandCanberra Stadium, Canberra
1 November 2008Fiji 42–6 FranceWollongong Showground, Wollongong
5 November 2008Scotland 18–16 FijiCentral Coast Stadium, Gosford

Group C
Main article: 2008 Rugby League World Cup Group C
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
 Ireland 2 1 0 1 54 38 +16 2
 Tonga 2 1 0 1 34 40 −6 2
 Samoa 2 1 0 1 36 46 −10 2
Source:
27 October 2008Tonga 22–20 IrelandParramatta Stadium, Sydney
31 October 2008Samoa 20–12 TongaPenrith Stadium, Sydney
5 November 2008Ireland 34–16 SamoaParramatta Stadium, Sydney

Positional playoffs

7th-place playoff: Scotland vs Tonga
8 November 2008
Scotland  0–48  Tonga
Report Try: Vuna (2)
Mateo
Paea
Uaisele
Williams
Talanoa
Jennings
Goal: Williams (7)
Paea
Browne Park, Rockhampton
Attendance: 5,942
Referee: Shane Hayne (Australia)

9th-place playoff: Samoa vs France
9 November 2008
Samoa  42–14  France
Try:
Te'o (2)
Utai
Meli
Carmont
Taulapapa
Roberts
T.Puletua
Goal: Roberts (3)
Paulo (2)		 Report Try: Guisset
Planas
Goal: Bosc
Penrith Stadium, Penrith
Attendance: 8,028
Referee: Thierry Alibert (France)

Knockout stage
Main article: 2008 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage
  Semi-final qualifier Semi-finals Final
                           
     
   New Zealand 32  
     England 22  
   
       
     New Zealand 34
   Australia 20
       
     
 Australia 52
     Fiji 0  
 Fiji 30
   Ireland 14  

Semi-final qualifier: Fiji vs Ireland
10 November 2008
Fiji  30–14  Ireland
Try: Uate (2)
Bukuya
Hayne
Naiqama
Goals: Naiqama (5/6)		 Report Try: Blanch (2)
Grix
Goals: Richards (1/4)
Robina Stadium, Gold Coast
Attendance: 8,224
Referee: Ashley Klein (England)
Man of the Match: Aaron Groom (Fiji)

Semi-finals

New Zealand vs England
15 November 2008
New Zealand  32–22  England
Try: Ropati (2)
Perrett
Hohaia
Harrison
Marshall
Goal: Smith (3)
Marshall		 Report Try: McGuire (2)
Peacock
Gleeson
Goal: Burrow (3)
Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 26,659
Referee: Shane Hayne (Australia)

Australia vs Fiji
16 November 2008
Australia  52–0  Fiji
Try: Paul Gallen 2'
Brent Tate 5', 16'
Billy Slater 9', 38', 49'
Johnathan Thurston 62', 66', 72'
Greg Inglis 77'
Goal: Johnathan Thurston (6)		 Report
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 15,855
Referee: Ashley Klein (England)
Man of the Match: Billy Slater (Australia)

Final: Australia vs New Zealand
Main article: 2008 Rugby League World Cup Final
22 November 2008
19:00 AEST
Australia  20 – 34  New Zealand
Tries:
Darren Lockyer (2)
David Williams
Greg Inglis


Goals:
Johnathan Thurston (2/4)		 Report Tries:
Lance Hohaia (2)
Jeremy Smith
Jerome Ropati
Benji Marshall
Adam Blair
Goals:
Isaac Luke (3/3)
Benji Marshall (2/3)
Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 50,599
Referee: Ashley Klein (England)
Man of the Match: Darren Lockyer (Australia)

Try scorers
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

Attendances

Criticism and controversy

Due to the generally poor response of the 2000 World Cup, there were several key criticisms of the tournament before any matches had kicked off.[16] The RLIF were forced to defend the credibility of the tournament in October 2007 after New Zealand, one of the favourites for the competition, were heavily beaten in a Test match 58–0 in Wellington against Australia.[17] Another concern was whether there would be enough competitiveness throughout the ten teams, with some fans worried about the possibility of too many one-sided matches,[18] which was a common sight in the Group Stages of the 2000 tournament.[19]

Ricky Stuart, coach of the Australian team, was reported to be so incensed by his team's defeat in the final that he verbally attacked Geoff Carr, the chief executive of Australian Rugby League, claiming that tournament organisers and match officials conspired to cause the Australian loss.[20] The next morning he had a chance meeting with Ashley Klein, who refereed the final, and Stuart Cummings, the Rugby Football League's director of match officials, at their hotel. He reportedly abused both officials in front of a number of witnesses, calling Klein a cheat, and behaved in an aggressive and physically intimidating manner.[21] Stuart later apologised for his behaviour and resigned from his post.[22]

Tickets

Tickets for Australian residents went on sale 7 November 2007 and internationally on 18 February.[23] However tickets were not distributed until 3 March. Ticketek were announced as the official ticketing agency for the competition, selling tickets for all matches.[24] Ticketmaster and Pilbeam Theatre were selling tickets to the Telstra Dome and Browne Park matches respectively.

The World Cup Final sold out months in advance.[25]

Sponsorship

The Official Sponsors of the Rugby League World Cup 2008 were:[26]

"Heroes Here 08" campaign
Promotional video scene
Heroes Here 08 strapline

The World Cup's "Heroes Here 08" promotional campaign was launched at the Sydney Opera House on 6 May 2008.[27] At the launch, Paul Kind, the World Cup Director of Marketing, explained, "Heroes Here 08 underlines that fact that the international game, and particularly this tournament, will bring out the best in every player who takes part. It will create heroes."

Natalie Bassingthwaighte recorded an "Australian version" of the Mariah Carey song "Hero" which accompanied the "Heroes 08" promotional video and other World Cup advertising. The World Cup Opening Ceremony featured a live performance of the song by Bassingthwaighte.[27]

Filming of visuals for the promotional video began in Leeds during the worldwide ticketing launch for the event in November 2007.[27]

Advertising agency MJW, celebrity photographer Garry Heery and production company Engine worked together to combine the latest digital animation with a dark and determined set that highlighted the passion players feel in representing their country on the international stage.[27]

The Heroes campaign featured Mark Gasnier (Australia), Roy Asotasi (New Zealand), Rob Burrow (England), Keith Peters (PNG), Waisale Sukanaveita (Fiji), Nigel Vagana (Samoa), Jerome Guisset (France), Lee Paterson (Scotland), Stuart Littler (Ireland) and Lopini Paea (Tonga).[27] Gasnier was later removed from some of the promotional material after he left the sport mid-season and was replaced by Darren Lockyer.

The video also appeared in the video game Rugby League 2: World Cup Edition, which featured a world cup mode based on the event.

Broadcasting

Television

The 2008 World Cup had 26 separate television deals taking coverage to 127 countries and generating more than $20 million income.[28] A global television audience of 19.2 million made it the most widely broadcast event in the game's history.[29]

Channel 9 broadcast all Group A matches and the Knockout Stage matches in Australia. Fox Sports broadcast all Group B and C matches plus Ranking Stage matches live. In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports broadcast all matches live,[30] meaning that all were shown in the morning and some as early as 06:00 am[31] with highlights being shown on the BBC. Sky Sport showed all games live across New Zealand. Mai TV broadcast all matches live in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands.[32] Orange Sport provided coverage of all matches live in France.

Coverage of the competition also extended to countries not taking part. Showtime showed all matches live across the Middle East. G offered coverage of all games in many countries in Africa. Astro showed all matches in Malaysia, and ESPN360 showed all matches in the United States. In Brazil, some matches were broadcast by Bandsports.

The only participating country with no television coverage of the matches was Tonga; the RLIF were hoping to secure a deal before the World Cup started, but this never happened.

BigPondTV, an online television station, broadcast all matches live and also repeated matches. This service was available to everyone for free.

Radio
  • UK – BBC Radio 5 Live and its sister station BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra broadcast selected games.
  • UK – some non-rights holders used Australian freelance reporter Tim Stackpool to report on games for UK broadcasters. An extensive archive can be heard here: RLWC Archive
  • AUS – ABC and 2GB Radio broadcast selected games.
  • NZ – Radio Sport broadcast the Kiwi's games, including the Kiwi's victory in the final.

Sources
gollark: Anyway, mpd is nice because I can use off-the-shelf software like ympd for managing it, and very easily hook up RSAPI and osmarksrobot via existing libraries.
gollark: ```python def inuse(connection, event): n = list(connection.get_nickname()) random.shuffle(n) n = "".join(n) print("renicking", n) # snip c.add_global_handler("nicknameinuse", inuse)```
gollark: Nope. You have to do it manually.
gollark: I only play music, and it's great at that, and existing software interops with it nicely for control.
gollark: For OIR anyway.

References
  1. "Rugby League World Cup 2008 Past Winners". Rlwc08.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  2. "McDonald defends World Cup". London: BBC. 22 November 2000. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  3. John Whalley Last Updated: 6:37PM GMT 31 December 2003 (1 January 2004). "Lewis backs Australia for World Cup – Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  4. Rugby League European Federation – Rugby League News Archive Archived 22 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Rugby League World Cup 2008 Official Web Site". Rugbyleagueworldcup.com. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  6. "Rugby League World Cup 2008". Rlwc08.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  7. McDonald, Margie (21 November 2008). "Four Nations heads global calendar". The Australian. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  8. Papua New Guinea Threaten Boycott
  9. "RLWC08 – Schedule Finalised". NRL. 4 October 2007. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  10. "Samoa beats Lebanon to be last team in league world cup". Australian Associated Press. 14 November 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  11. ARL – Tickets On Sale Archived 25 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Ricketts, Steve (21 October 2008). "England Cup side not afraid of the grapple tackle". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 October 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  13. "RFL trio head to the Rugby League World Cup". sportfocus.com. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  14. "Referees in pink for charity". Rugby League International Federation. 18 July 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  15. Indigenous Dreamtime team named Archived 1 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine @ Official RLWC08 site, 11 October 2008.
  16. John-paul moloney and david jean (28 October 2008). "The real deal or a standing joke?". The Canberra Times. Australia. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
  17. Kiwi Pre-WC Criticism
  18. Competitiveness Pre-WC Criticism
  19. 2000 WC Overview
  20. Archived 7 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  21. Archived 9 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  22. "Stuart sorry for World Cup rant". BBC News. 28 November 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  23. Pilbeam Tickets Archived 19 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  24. Ticketek Tickets
  25. World Cup News (5 August 2008). "Samoa name World Cup Squad". League Unlimited. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  26. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. "Media Release: Heroes 08 Campaign Launched". Rugby League International Federation. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
  28. "World Cup goes back to its roots – National News – National – Sport – The Canberra Times". The Canberra Times. 24 October 2008. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  30. Sky Sports Broadcasting Bid
  31. UK Broadcasting Archived 28 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  32. Pacific Broadcasting Archived 21 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
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