Great Britain defeats France to capture the first ever Rugby League World Cup in Paris in front of around 30,000 spectators.
The France national rugby league team represent France in international rugby league matches. They are referred to as les Chanticleers or less commonly as les Tricolores. The team is run under the auspices of the Fdration Franaise de Rugby XIII.
The French rugby league team first played in 1934 on a tour of England. They have taken part in all World Cups, 15 in total, with the first being held in 1954 in France. They have never won the title but finished runners-up in both 1954 and 1968. These are often considered the glory years of French rugby league as from the 1950s to the 1970s the team were strong and regularly beat Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. Since those days, les Chanticleers have not done as well, not managing to win a single match in the 1995 World Cup, but doing slightly better in 2000 with wins over Tonga and South Africa before losing to eventual finalists, New Zealand.
In 2006, the Perpignan based team Catalans Dragons entered Super League, and have since produced a number of top-class French players. The team reached the quarter-finals of the 2013 World Cup where they were knocked out by England. At the 2017 World Cup, the team failed to qualify for the quarter finals after being eliminated at the group stage.
Currently, France are ranked eighth in the world. In Europe alone they are ranked second, ahead of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Lebanon, but behind their main rival, England.
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions.
For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, played against foreign touring teams and competed in the Rugby League World Cup, which they won three times: in 1954, 1960 and 1972.
Since 1995, the RFL has sent separate home nations teams to the World Cup. Great Britain continued to compete as a Test playing nation both home and away. They competed against Australia for the Ashes, and New Zealand for the Baskerville Shield, as well the Tri-Nations series with both Australia and New Zealand. Great Britain also played in series and tours against France, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
In 2006, the RFL announced that after the 2007 All Golds Tour the Great Britain team would no longer compete on a regular basis, and its players would represent England, Wales and Scotland at Test level. It is planned that the Great Britain team will come together in future only for occasional tours, similar to the British and Irish Lions in rugby union.
On 9 May 2017, it was confirmed that the Great Britain team would tour the southern hemisphere in 2019 as the Great Britain Lions.