Australia 36–8 New Zealand — World Cup Table, 1975 Rugby League World Cup
1 Jun 1975 · Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia · Attendance: 12,000
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1975 Rugby League World Cup: Australia 36–8 New Zealand, at Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia on 1 Jun 1975.
Scorers
| Australia | Tries: Cronin (2); Langlands (2); Branighan; Fulton; Platz; Randall Goals: Cronin (6/9) |
| New Zealand | Tries: Stirling; Whittaker Goals: Collicoat (1/3) |
Teams
| Australia | New Zealand | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Graeme Langlands (c) | Fullback | Warren Collicoat | 1 |
| 2 | Chris Anderson | Wing | Phil Orchard | 2 |
| 3 | Bob Fulton | Centre | John O'Sullivan | 3 |
| 4 | Michael Cronin | Centre | John Whittaker | 4 |
| 5 | Terry Fahey | Wing | Maurice Brereton | 5 |
| 6 | Tim Pickup | Stand off/Five eighth | Dennis Williams | 6 |
| 7 | Ross Strudwick | Scrum half/Half back | Ken Stirling (c) | 7 |
| 8 | Terry Randall | Prop forward | Graeme West | 8 |
| 9 | John Lang | Hooker | Tom Conroy | 9 |
| 10 | David Wright | Prop forward | John Hibbs | 10 |
| 11 | Gary Stevens | Second row | Ray Baxendale | 11 |
| 12 | Lew Platz | Second row | Tony Coll | 12 |
| 13 | Ron Coote | Loose forward/Lock forward | Murray Eade | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| Interchange | Ray Branighan | Kurt Sorensen | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Paul Sait | |||
| Graeme Langlands (playing captain-coach) | Coach | George Menzies | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Francois Escande (France) |
| Player of the match | — not identified in sources found |
Match report
The opening match of Australia's home program in the 1975 World Championship Series, played at Lang Park, Brisbane. Australia, captained by fullback Graeme Langlands, raced to a commanding 20-0 halftime lead and went on to win comfortably, 36-8. Michael Cronin and Graeme Langlands each scored two tries, with further tries to Ray Branighan, Bob Fulton, Lew Platz and Terry Randall giving the Kangaroos six different try-scorers. Cronin also converted 6 of 9 attempts.
New Zealand's response came through tries to captain-halfback Ken Stirling and centre John Whittaker, with Warren Collicoat adding one goal. In-game changes saw Paul Sait replace David Wright for Australia at halftime after Wright suffered a hip injury, and Ray Branighan replace Terry Fahey during the second half, with Branighan scoring a try after coming on. Australia went on to win the World Championship Series title.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 34–15 New Zealand
- 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): 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