French captain, Puig Aubert (right) shakes hands with British counterpart, Scotsman, Dave Valentine, ahead of their World Cup clash in Toulouse. Watching on is English referee, Charlie Appleton from Warrington
SEVEN Queensland players were named in the Australian team for the inaugural Rugby League World Cup in France.
Twenty three years before rugby union staged its first world tournament, league took the bold step of bringing all four Test nations together for a round robin in France, where the game had made great strides after being banned by the Nazi sympathising Vichy Government, and stripped of all its assets in World War II.
The Courier-Mail’s Jack Reardon wrote that he believed seven reps in an 18 man squad was fair, given New South Wales had won all four inter-state games that season.
Tournament results: France 22 d New Zealand 13, Paris. Crowd 13,240.
Final, Great Britain 16 France 12. Paris. Crowd 30,368.
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The above photograph is likely to be from a France v Wales or Other Nationalities match played in the years preceding the World Cup.