Australia 34–15 New Zealand — World Cup Table, 1954 Rugby League World Cup
7 Nov 1954 · Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France · Attendance: N/A
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1954 Rugby League World Cup: Australia 34–15 New Zealand, at Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France on 7 Nov 1954.
Scorers
| Australia | Tries: Watson (3); Bull; Diversi; Hawick; Kearney; O'Shea Goals: Pidding (5) |
| New Zealand | Tries: Eriksen Goals: McKay (6) |
Teams
| Australia | New Zealand | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clive Churchill (Captain) | Fullback | Neville Denton | 1 |
| 2 | Noel Pidding | Wing | Jim Edwards | 2 |
| 3 | Harry Wells | Centre | Cyril Eastlake (Captain) | 3 |
| 4 | Alex Watson | Centre | Ron McKay | 4 |
| 5 | Denis Flannery | Wing | Jim Austin | 5 |
| 6 | Bob Banks | Five-eighth | William Sorensen | 6 |
| 7 | Greg Hawick | Halfback | Lenny Eriksen | 7 |
| 8 | Roy Bull | Prop | Cliff Johnson | 8 |
| 9 | Ken Kearney | Hooker | Lory Blanchard | 9 |
| 10 | Brian Davies | Prop | William McLennan | 10 |
| 11 | Harold Crocker | Second Row | John Butterfield | 11 |
| 12 | Kel O'Shea | Second Row | John Yates | 12 |
| 13 | Peter Diversi | Lock | Alister Atkinson | 13 |
| Vic Hey | Coach | Jim Amos | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Rene Guidicelli |
| Touch judges | — not identified in sources found |
| Player of the match | — not identified in sources found |
Match report
Australia's World Cup campaign had opened poorly with a 28-13 loss to Great Britain at Lyon. New Zealand had also lost their opening match, to Great Britain, and arrived in Marseille already needing a big performance to stay in contention. The two sides met on 7 November 1954 at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. Australia produced by far their best form of the tournament, running in eight tries to New Zealand's one. Centre Alex Watson was the outstanding performer with a hat-trick of tries, while five other Australians each crossed once; winger Noel Pidding was faultless off the tee with five goals from five attempts. Australia led 16-2 at half-time and pulled away in the second half to win 34-15, comfortably their heaviest score of the competition. New Zealand's only try came through halfback Lenny Eriksen, with Ron McKay landing six goals — the bulk of the Kiwis' points coming from the boot rather than the try-line. The result kept Australia's faint finals hopes alive, but four days later they lost 15-5 to France at Nantes and finished third in the table, missing the final. New Zealand lost their remaining group match to Great Britain as well, finishing bottom of the table with three defeats from three. Great Britain and France progressed to the final at the Parc des Princes in Paris, which Great Britain won 16-12 to become the inaugural World Cup champions. For Australia, Alex Watson's hat-trick in Marseille was the individual highlight of an otherwise underwhelming campaign that fell short of the final.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1957 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 25–5 New Zealand
- 1960 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 21–15 New Zealand
- 1968 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 31–12 New Zealand
- 1970 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 47–11 New Zealand
- 1972 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 9–5 New Zealand
- 1975 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 36–8 New Zealand
- 1975 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 8–24 Australia
- 1977 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 12–27 Australia
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 18–0 Australia
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 32–12 New Zealand
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (Final): Australia 25–12 New Zealand
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 14–22 Australia
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 40–12 New Zealand
- 1995 Rugby League World Cup (Semi-final): Australia 30–20 New Zealand
- 2000 Rugby League World Cup (Final): Australia 40–12 New Zealand
- 2008 Rugby League World Cup (Group A): Australia 30–6 New Zealand
- 2008 Rugby League World Cup (Final): New Zealand 34–20 Australia
- 2013 Rugby League World Cup (Final): Australia 34–2 New Zealand
- 2021 Rugby League World Cup (Semi-final): Australia 16–14 New Zealand