The View From The Home Nations
The 1996 World Cup was also held in this country, with Warrington being the base. I sought the views and reflections of people who participated in that tournament. What were their overriding memories of what took place on the pitch and off it!?

Graeme Thompson (Scotland)
“The Student World Cup is a great occasion for a variety of reasons. There is good rugby, pride in representing your country, the new friends you make and 12 student teams descending on Mr Smiths in Warrington!

The last World Cup saw 12 student squads together in Warrington for two and a half weeks. Sounds like a recipe for disaster! Or certainly some memorable moments. Such as the USA’s night of shaving their heads marine style and making runs around the campus. Or the Kiwis practising their ‘haka’ and the Russians their vodka drinking.

The Scotland team was as usual a mix of resident Scots and Anglo-Scots. Our starting match was versus Japan. Again, another example of Student Rugby League leading the way in getting new nations into the World Cups. Although we heavily defeated them, they added a new dimension to the development of the game. Our second game was against England at Gateshead. A slightly important and significant fixture for us Scots!! On a miserable night (and for the English) we won. It was not the most free flowing game, but it was definitely a battle. Unfortunately, it was our last win of the Championship. We went on to lose to France, South Africa and Russia. Five games in under two weeks took it’s toll. Indeed, we needed to call for extras and we borrowed a South African for our final match.

Just as in any sporting level, the World Cup is the pinnacle. The playing standard was very good with the Aussies setting the benchmark. I suspect that the standard will rise again this time and I hope particularly regarding the Home Nations. If the social side keeps on rising - well the tournament might run out of sober players!! Of course, it is the whole British Isles which will be affected with Hull the setting for the final’s week. Hull is definitely rugby league daft. Let’s hope it can cope with the rest!! Is there a Mr Smiths in Hull?”

EDITOR: Graeme went on to become the Scottish Development Officer after the World Cup, and is currently a Development Officer at the London Broncos.

Stuart Singleton (Wales)
“The 1996 Student Rugby League World Cup remains one of the highlights of my rugby league life. As I can imagine with all the students competing in that years tournament, the road to get there was long, but once there it proved to be a very enjoyable experience. Initially you have to get into the squad, for me the Welsh squad, then you have to make yourself available for squad sessions on Sundays, and regional sessions on a Wednesday. As if that was not enough, you then have your own individual weight training and fitness sessions on top. As with all students, the summer period is usually an opportunity to repay all the debts obtained over the previous year at University. Well it was not any different for me. That year, after finding some temporary lodgings for the summer, a spare bedroom at Richard Hodges’ house (currently the Welsh Rugby League Development Officer, and another member of that year’s Welsh squad), we spent the rest of the summer working opposite each other five days a week for twelve hours a day checking alloy wheels by hand for defaults. As you can probably imagine, that summer was very exhausting, and I definitely was not the only one.

As we arrived at Warrington University’s Padgate Campus, Wales’ and every other nations accommodation for the next two weeks, my excitement at what to expect grew, especially as we received all of our playing and training kit and the prospect of playing Australia in our opening game became closer. The idea to accommodate every nation on the same campus, I think helped to make this tournament as special as it was. Although there were two minor faults with this - 1) it was strange eating breakfast with someone that you’ll be playing against later in that day; and 2) there were some very competitive games of cricket and football in the evenings!

The first day that we were at Warrington we were paraded through the streets in the town centre, until we arrived at the Town Hall. While we were at the Town Hall at the official opening of the Student Rugby League World Cup, I witnessed for the first time the New Zealand team performing their pre-match war dance, the ‘haka’, for the gathered crowds. Then, unexpectedly, the Western Samoan team emerged from the crowd and stood face to face with the New Zealand players and performed their own pre-match war dance before a very surprised but excited crowd. This hostility lasted until New Zealand were drawn against and lost to Western Samoa in what I believe was a very exciting semi-final.

All of the games played proved to be very competitive. Wales opening game against Australia, which we lost by 50 points to 4, remains one of the hardest but enjoyable games that I have played in. All of the games that we played were at top professional club grounds, with the Welsh team, for example, playing at Central Park Wigan, Odsal Stadium Bradford and Hilton Park Leigh, to name just a few.

Without a doubt, the 1996 Student Rugby League World Cup was a very exciting time, and one that I was very privileged to be involved in. Some of the fondest memories that I have are: 1) The professional attitude of the whole Australian team 2) The huge physical size of every Western Samoan 3) The friends that I made, some of whom I met up with while recently in Australia with the Great Britain Students; and 4) The last night, (although certain parts of that are a bit of a blur)”

EDITOR: Stuart has since furthered his rugby league career by joining the Gateshead Thunder

Ronnie Kettlewell (England)
“What makes the Student World Cup so special??????

The Student World Cup is on a par with, and is in some respects, better than any other tour or tournament in which I have been involved. Having been lucky enough to have been on tour to both South Africa and Australia, I found the prospect of spending two weeks in student accommodation in Warrington a little uninspiring. How I was to be proved wrong. Each nation consists of a squad of over twenty players and as we know, boys will be boys, so there is never any lack of entertainment, as within every squad you will find a full range of characters. Some players may have been friends prior to the tournament but all will be friends afterwards. In many cases, lifelong friends can be found and in years to come you never know when you will bump into someone who was there with you.

Momentous sporting occasions such as the World Cup cannot fail to offer many ups and downs for the players involved. Some players will come to the forefront as far as being invaluable on the pitch and others will always be the jokers in the team, who just seem to make the most of any situations and keep the morale within the camps at a constant high. From the moment you arrive and are given a roommate and the bonding process begins and the old, ‘all for one and one for all’ attitude begins to appear, and each nation tends to keep the others at arms length as they ‘weigh up’ the opposition. Sometimes there are extra motives for wanting to beat particular opposition - the Aussies (obviously), the other three home nations because they particularly want to beat us, and the Samoans because of their size.

The first of the games are always guaranteed to be explosive meetings with each nation wanting to get off to a good start and make their presence felt. So as you can imagine there tends to be sparks flying as the early exchanges take place. Anyone who has been lucky enough to have watched any World Cup games will vouch for the quality of the rugby. Each team tends to have a range of players with different levels of experience so there is a good mix of ability on show. The tournament is also a great opportunity for many of the more ambitious players to put themselves on show to the numerous scouts who come along to the games in search of a potential signing.

Once the first games are over, the teams seem to relax and the student instinct takes over and the beer begins to flow. The rivalry is still there, but the different nations drop their guard and the socialising begins. Over the two weeks, the friendships develop and the rugby improves as the players become used to their team-mates. Because of this mix of quality rugby league and the ability of students to enjoy themselves, there cannot be many sporting tournaments to rival the Student Rugby League World Cup.”
EDITOR: Ronnie is currently playing his rugby league with the London