Great Britain 23–8 New Zealand — World Cup Table, 1960 Rugby League World Cup
24 Sep 1960 · Odsal Stadium, Bradford, England · Attendance: 20,577
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1960 Rugby League World Cup: Great Britain 23–8 New Zealand, at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, England on 24 Sep 1960.
Scorers
| Great Britain | Tries: Ashton; Davies; Murphy; Myler; McTigue Goals: Fraser (4) |
| New Zealand | Tries: Cooke; Hadfield Goals: Sorensen |
Teams
| Great Britain | New Zealand | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Fraser | Fullback | Cyril Eastlake | 1 |
| 2 | Bobby Greenough | Wing | Tom Hadfield | 2 |
| 3 | Eric Ashton (Captain) | Centre | George Turner | 3 |
| 4 | Alan Davies | Centre | William Sorensen | 4 |
| 5 | Mick Sullivan | Wing | Neville Denton | 5 |
| 6 | Frank Myler | Five-eighth | George Menzies | 6 |
| 7 | Alex Murphy | Halfback | Keith Roberts | 7 |
| 8 | Brian McTigue | Prop | Henry Maxwell | 8 |
| 9 | Tommy Harris | Hooker | John Butterfield | 9 |
| 10 | Jack Wilkinson | Prop | Cliff Johnson (Captain) | 10 |
| 11 | John Whiteley | Second Row | Ron Ackland | 11 |
| 12 | Vince Karalius | Second Row | Trevor Kilkelly | 12 |
| 13 | Derek Turner | Lock | Mel Cooke | 13 |
| Bill Fallowfield | Coach | Travers Hardwick | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Eddie Martung |
| Touch judges | — not identified in sources found |
| Player of the match | — not identified in sources found |
Match report
The 1960 Rugby League World Cup was the third edition of the tournament, and the first to be staged entirely in England, running from 24 September to 8 October 1960. Four nations competed — hosts Great Britain, defending champions Australia, New Zealand, and France — playing each other once in a round-robin World Cup Table, with the team topping the table crowned champions and no standalone final. Great Britain, playing as hosts and one of the two pre-tournament favourites alongside Australia, opened their campaign against a New Zealand side that had traditionally struggled to match the 'Big Two' in world tournament rugby league, though the Kiwis had a well-earned reputation for physicality and a strong forward pack led by the experienced Cliff Johnson. On the day, Great Britain — captained by Eric Ashton and featuring the explosive attacking talents of a young Alex Murphy, plus a forward pack built around the hard-running Vince Karalius and Derek Turner — proved too strong. Britain led 10-5 at half-time and pulled clear in the second half to win 23-8, scoring five tries to New Zealand's two. Ashton, Alan Davies, Alex Murphy, Frank Myler and Brian McTigue crossed for Britain's tries, with fullback Eric Fraser landing four goals from the boot. For New Zealand, forward Mel Cooke and winger Tom Hadfield scored the tries, with centre William Sorensen kicking a single goal. The result put Great Britain top of the World Cup Table after round one and set them on course for a title-winning tournament: Britain went on to beat France and Australia to be crowned 1960 World Cup champions undefeated. For New Zealand, the defeat to Britain was the first of a difficult tournament in which they would finish third of four, beating only France.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 26–6 New Zealand
- 1957 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 21–29 New Zealand
- 1968 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 38–14 New Zealand
- 1970 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 27–17 New Zealand
- 1972 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 53–19 New Zealand
- 1977 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 12–30 Great Britain
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 6–6 New Zealand
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 12–10 Great Britain
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 10–6 New Zealand
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 21–18 Great Britain