Great Britain 53–19 New Zealand — World Cup Table, 1972 Rugby League World Cup
4 Nov 1972 · Stade du Hameau, Pau, France · Attendance: N/A
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1972 Rugby League World Cup: Great Britain 53–19 New Zealand, at Stade du Hameau, Pau, France on 4 Nov 1972.
Scorers
| Great Britain | Tries: Atkinson (2); Holmes (2); — further scorer(s) not identified in sources found (needed to reconcile with the 53-point total under this era's 3-point try scoring; this is a known gap in RLP's older scoresheet for this fixture) Goals: Holmes (10) |
| New Zealand | Tries: — not identified in sources found (RLP's scoresheet for this match names no individual New Zealand try scorers) Goals: Wilson (2) |
Teams
| Great Britain | New Zealand | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Charlton | Fullback | John Wilson | 1 |
| 2 | Clive Sullivan (c) | Wing | Phil Orchard | 2 |
| 3 | Chris Hesketh | Centre | Maurice Brereton | 3 |
| 4 | John Walsh | Centre | Roy Christian (c) | 4 |
| 5 | John Atkinson | Wing | John Whittaker | 5 |
| 6 | John Holmes | Stand off/Five eighth | Dennis Williams | 6 |
| 7 | Steve Nash | Scrum half/Half back | Brian Tracey | 7 |
| 8 | David Jeanes | Prop forward | Don Mann | 8 |
| 9 | Mike Stephenson | Hooker | William Burgoyne | 9 |
| 10 | Brian Lockwood | Prop forward | Doug Gailey | 10 |
| 11 | Bob Irving | Second row | Murray Eade | 11 |
| 12 | Phil Lowe | Second row | Tony Coll | 12 |
| 13 | George Nicholls | Loose forward/Lock forward | Peter Gurnick | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| Interchange | David Redfearn — not confirmed which side they played on | Warren Collicoat | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Tony Karalius — not confirmed which side they played on | Rodney Walker | Interchange | |
| Jim Challinor | Coach | Des Barchard — spelling not independently cross-verified beyond the primary source | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Georges Jameau — nationality not explicitly confirmed on this match's page, but consistent with the France-based officiating pool for this tournament |
| Player of the match | — not identified in sources found |
Match report
Played at Stade du Hameau, Pau. Great Britain led 33-8 at halftime and went on to win comfortably, 53-19, part of a tour in which Great Britain won all three of its World Cup Table fixtures. This was Great Britain's biggest points return of the group phase, set them up (alongside other results) for their eventual World Cup title, won on points-table placing after the final finished level.
John Atkinson and John Holmes each scored two of Great Britain's confirmed tries, with Holmes also kicking ten goals. New Zealand's tour form was otherwise mixed — they had already lost to France and Australia before this heavy defeat, with fullback John Wilson kicking two goals.
Sourcing caveat: This match's scoresheet on rugbyleagueproject.org names only 4 of Great Britain's approximately 11 tries and none of New Zealand's approximately 5 tries — a known gap in the primary source's older 1970s records for this fixture rather than a research failure. The remaining try scorers for both sides are flagged as unidentified rather than guessed.
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
- 1960 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 23–8 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
- 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