1995 Rugby League World Cup Group A was one of the three groups in the
1995 Rugby League World Cup. The group consisted of three countries:
Australia,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Fiji and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
.
Ladder
England vs Australia
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Fiji vs South Africa
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Australia vs South Africa
The Kangaroos scored a World Cup and international league record 16 tries against minnows South Africa. Australian halfback
Andrew Johns
Andrew Gary Johns (born 19 May 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history. Johns captained the Newcas ...
kicked 11 goals (from 16 attempts) to break the record for most goals kicked in a rugby league test.
Gideon Watts scored the Rhinos only try of the tournament. With the selection of
Cronulla
Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydne ...
hooker
Aaron Raper
Aaron Raper (born 28 July 1971) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. His position of choice was although he could also fill other spots in the team.
Raper played in Australia for the Cronulla-Su ...
, he became Australia's first second generation World Cup player following the footsteps of his famous father
Johnny Raper
John William Raper (12 April 1939 – 9 February 2022) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. Nicknamed "Chook", he was a lock-forward who earned a then-record of 33 Test caps in the Australia national team between ...
who captained Australia to World Cup success in
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Janu ...
. Australian coach
Bob Fulton had been a team mate of Raper's father in the
1968 Rugby League World Cup final win over
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
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England vs Fiji
England captain
Shaun Edwards
Shaun Edwards, OBE (born 17 October 1966) is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A or , Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 wi ...
was on the bench and remained there for the entire game amid rumours of a knee injury. The rumours turned out to be true and Edwards did not play again in the tournament. The captaincy was then handed to former
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...
team mate
Denis Betts making history by becoming the first player chosen to captain England while not playing in the English premiership. Betts at the time was playing for the
Auckland Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...
in the
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...
competition.
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Australia vs Fiji
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England vs South Africa
England went into the match already having booked a Semi-final berth. For South Africa, the Rhinos had pride on the line and the want to not have England put a big score on them. The Rhinos earned the respect of their opponents and the 14,041 crowd at Headingley with a willing display.
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References
External links
1995 World Cup audio highlights1995 World Cup at rlif.com1995 World Cup at 188-rugby-league.co.uk
{{1995 in rugby league
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