When the Kangaroos Finished THIRD! The Story of the FIRST EVER Rugby League World Cup!

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Imagine if you can it's October 1954...    72 years ago.

In the UK, bomb sites from WW2 still scar many cities. Food rationing has only just ended and most families don't own a television. Winston Churchill is approaching 80 and serving his second term as Prime Minister.

On the other side of the world, Australia and New Zealand are embracing a new era of post-war optimism. They’ve both enjoyed a royal visit. Families are dreaming of a brick home, a car in the driveway and a brighter future.

Sydney was rugby league mad, in Brisbane it was growing fast. But in France, like so many of its towns and cities, the sport only just about survived after the war. Less than a decade earlier, it had been outlawed. Rugby league was almost wiped from existence.

But, it refused to die.

In October 1954, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand are heading to France and it’s not for a Test series.

For the very first time, rugby league will crown a World Champion.

Two of the game's finest historians, are taking you back to relive the story of the first Rugby League World Cup in 1954.

The Rugby League History Podcast is a weekly or bi-weekly pod about exactly what it says in the title!