France 5–23 Great Britain — World Cup Table, 1957 Rugby League World Cup
15 Jun 1957 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia · Attendance: 50,007
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1957 Rugby League World Cup: France 5–23 Great Britain, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia on 15 Jun 1957.
Scorers
| France | Tries: Merquey Goals: Benausse |
| Great Britain | Tries: Sullivan (2); Boston; Jackson; Stevenson Goals: Jones (4) |
Teams
| France | Great Britain | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andre Rives | Fullback | Glyn Moses | 1 |
| 2 | Maurice Voron | Wing | Billy Boston | 2 |
| 3 | Jacques Merquey (Captain) | Centre | Phil Jackson | 3 |
| 4 | Antoine Jiminez | Centre | Alan Davies | 4 |
| 5 | Guy Husson | Wing | Mick Sullivan | 5 |
| 6 | Gilbert Benausse | Five-eighth | Lewis Jones | 6 |
| 7 | Rene Jean | Halfback | Jeffrey Stevenson | 7 |
| 8 | Rene Ferrero | Prop | Alan Prescott (Captain) | 8 |
| 9 | Antranick Apelian | Hooker | Tommy Harris | 9 |
| 10 | Gabriel Berthomieu | Prop | Sid Little | 10 |
| 11 | Armand Save | Second Row | Jack Grundy | 11 |
| 12 | Augustin Parent | Second Row | Geoff Gunney | 12 |
| 13 | Jean Rouqueyrol | Lock | Derek Turner | 13 |
| Jean Duhau | Coach | — not identified in sources found (no head coach was appointed for the Great Britain touring party in this era; the team was run by managers Bill Fallowfield and Hector Elsworth Rawson) | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Darcy Lawler (Sydney) |
| Touch judges | — not identified in sources found |
| Player of the match | — not identified in sources found |
Match report
Great Britain arrived in Australia as the reigning 1954 world champions and as strong favourites, fielding a powerful squad built around stars such as wingers Billy Boston and Mick Sullivan, stand-off Lewis Jones, centre Phil Jackson, halfback Jeffrey Stevenson and captain Alan Prescott. France, by contrast, were regarded as a dangerous dark horse outfit under captain Jacques Merquey. France and Great Britain met in the opening fixture of the tournament, played at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 15 June 1957 in front of a crowd around 50,000. Great Britain took control early and led 15-5 at half-time, before extending the margin further in the second half to win comfortably, 23-5. Mick Sullivan was the outstanding individual performer, scoring two tries on the wing, with further tries to Billy Boston, Phil Jackson and Jeffrey Stevenson rounding out a dominant British try-scoring effort; Lewis Jones landed four goals to complete the point-scoring. France's reply came via a solitary try from captain Jacques Merquey, converted by Gilbert Benausse. The result set the tone for the tournament: Great Britain's opening victory established them as genuine title contenders, but they would go on to lose to Australia and then to New Zealand in their remaining fixtures, finishing the competition with only this single win. Australia went through the tournament unbeaten to be crowned world champions on home soil.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 13–13 Great Britain
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (Final): Great Britain 16–12 France
- 1960 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 33–7 France
- 1968 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 7–2 Great Britain
- 1970 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 6–0 France
- 1972 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 4–13 Great Britain
- 1977 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 4–23 Great Britain
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 10–10 Great Britain
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 52–4 France
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 10–45 Great Britain
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 36–0 France