New Zealand 27–0 France — World Cup Table, 1975 Rugby League World Cup
15 Jun 1975 · Addington Showground, Christchurch, New Zealand · Attendance: 2,500
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1975 Rugby League World Cup: New Zealand 27–0 France, at Addington Showground, Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 Jun 1975.
Scorers
| New Zealand | Tries: Jarvis (2); — not identified in sources found (further tries are required to reconcile with the 27-point total under this era's 3-point try scoring; RLP's own scoresheet for this match names only Jarvis) Goals: D. Sorensen (6/7) |
| France | No scorers recorded. |
Teams
| New Zealand | France | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Whittaker | Fullback | Francis Tranier | 1 |
| 2 | Phil Orchard | Wing | André Dumas | 2 |
| 3 | John O'Sullivan | Centre | René Terrats | 3 |
| 4 | Dennis Williams | Centre | André Ruiz | 4 |
| 5 | Don Munro | Wing | Ellie Bonal | 5 |
| 6 | Robert Jarvis | Stand off/Five eighth | José Calle | 6 |
| 7 | Ken Stirling (c) | Scrum half/Half back | Jean-Marie Imbert | 7 |
| 8 | John Greengrass | Prop forward | Charles Zalduendo | 8 |
| 9 | Tom Conroy | Hooker | Antoine Gonzales | 9 |
| 10 | Dane Sorensen | Prop forward | Michel Cassin | 10 |
| 11 | Tony Coll | Second row | Serge Gleyzes | 11 |
| 12 | Ray Baxendale | Second row | Francis de Nadaï | 12 |
| 13 | Murray Eade | Loose forward/Lock forward | Jean-Claude Mayorgas | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Warren Collicoat | Bernard Curt | 14 | |
| 15 | Lyndsay Proctor | Didier Hermet | 15 | |
| George Menzies | Coach | Antoine Jiminez | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Laurie Bruyeres |
| Player of the match | — not identified in sources found |
Match report
New Zealand hosted France at Addington Showground, Christchurch, in front of a sparse crowd of 2,500. New Zealand led 9-0 at halftime and pulled away in the second half to win 27-0, a comfortable victory that continued a pattern of French struggles in the expanded tournament. New Zealand won the scrum count 20-17 and France conceded more penalties (11-9).
New Zealand made pre-match changes, shifting John Whittaker from centre to fullback; France, hit by injuries, promoted René Terrats from the bench into the centres. Five-eighth Robert Jarvis scored two of New Zealand's tries, with prop Dane Sorensen adding six goals; the remaining points required to reach 27 are not individually attributed in sources found.
Sourcing caveat: New Zealand's scoresheet as recorded on rugbyleagueproject.org names only Robert Jarvis (2 tries) and Dane Sorensen (6/7 goals), which totals 18 of the 27 points -- a 9-point (3-try) gap. This appears to be a gap in the primary source's own historical record rather than an extraction error; no other source checked provided a fuller scoresheet, so the remaining scorer(s) are flagged as unidentified rather than guessed.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 22–13 New Zealand
- 1957 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 14–10 New Zealand
- 1960 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 0–9 New Zealand
- 1968 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 10–15 France
- 1970 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 15–16 New Zealand
- 1972 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 20–9 New Zealand
- 1975 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 12–12 New Zealand
- 1977 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 28–20 France
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 0–22 New Zealand
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 0–34 New Zealand
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 32–10 France
- 2000 Rugby League World Cup (Quarter-final): New Zealand 54–6 France
- 2013 Rugby League World Cup (Group B): New Zealand 48–0 France