Australia 13–12 France — World Cup Table, 1960 Rugby League World Cup

24 Sep 1960 · Central Park, Wigan, England · Attendance: 20,278

Data last verified: 11 August 2026.

1960 Rugby League World Cup ▾

World Cup Table, 1960 Rugby League World Cup: Australia 13–12 France, at Central Park, Wigan, England on 24 Sep 1960.

Scorers

AustraliaTries: Gasnier; Kelly; Raper
Goals: Carlson (2)
FranceTries: Gruppi (2)
Goals: Lacaze (3)

Teams

AustraliaFrance
1Brian CarlsonFullbackLouis Poletti1
2Ken IrvineWingJacques Dubon2
3Reg GasnierCentreClaude Mantoulan3
4Harry WellsCentreRoger Rey4
5Lionel MorganWingRaymond Gruppi5
6Tony BrownFive-eighthJacques Merquey (Captain)6
7Barry Muir (Captain)HalfbackGeorges Fages7
8Rex MossopPropAngelo Boldini8
9Noel KellyHookerAndre Casas9
10Dud BeattiePropAldo Quaglio10
11Elton RasmussenSecond RowJean Barthe11
12Brian HamblySecond RowRobert Eramouspe12
13John RaperLockAndre Lacaze13
Keith BarnesCoachRene Duffort / Jean Duhau

Match officials

RefereeEric Clay (Leeds)
Touch judges— not identified in sources found
Player of the match— not identified in sources found

Match report

For Australia, the World Cup matches were woven into their much longer 1959-60 Kangaroo Tour of Great Britain and France, a lengthy end-of-season tour during which the Australians played numerous club and representative fixtures either side of the four World Cup pool matches. On-field captaincy for this match fell to halfback Barry Muir. The match, played at Central Park, Wigan on the tournament's opening day, was a tight, physical contest in front of 20,278 spectators — a strong crowd for the era, with organisers concerned that live television coverage would suppress attendances across the competition. Australia led 8-2 at halftime and held on for a narrow 13-12 win, with France pushing hard in the second half. Winger Raymond Gruppi scored both of France's tries and lock Andre Lacaze landed three goals to keep France within a score for most of the contest, while Australia's points came from three individual first-half tries — to centre Reg Gasnier, hooker Noel Kelly and lock John Raper — with fullback Brian Carlson adding two goals. The result was Australia's only win of three in the tournament pool that would ultimately see them finish second behind an unbeaten Great Britain. Brian Carlson, Australia's fullback in this match, finished as the tournament's leading points-scorer overall with four tries and 22 points. For France, this loss opened a winless tournament, a disappointing campaign for a side that had been competitive in earlier World Cups.

Sourcing caveat: Sources differ on whether Keith Barnes (tour captain, credited as match-level head coach per rugbyleagueproject.org) or Clive Churchill (credited as Kangaroo tour coach in general tour histories) should be considered Australia's coach for this specific fixture; both are noted here rather than asserting a single definitive answer.

Previous World Cup meetings

Sources

← 1960 Rugby League World Cup — full match archive

← 1960 Rugby League World Cup