Wales 25–24 New Zealand — World Cup Table, 1975 Rugby League World Cup
2 Nov 1975 · St Helen's Rugby Ground, Swansea, Wales · Attendance: 2,645
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1975 Rugby League World Cup: Wales 25–24 New Zealand, at St Helen's Rugby Ground, Swansea, Wales on 2 Nov 1975.
Scorers
| Wales | Tries: Francis (2); — not identified in sources found (further tries are required to reconcile with the 25-point total under this era's 3-point try scoring; RLP's own scoresheet for this match names only Francis) Goals: Watkins (5) |
| New Zealand | Tries: Coll; — not identified in sources found (further tries are required to reconcile with the 24-point total under this era's 3-point try scoring; RLP's own scoresheet for this match names only Coll) Goals: Gordon — split with Collicoat not identified in sources found; Collicoat — split with Gordon not identified in sources found |
Teams
| Wales | New Zealand | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Watkins (c) | Fullback | Warren Collicoat | 1 |
| 2 | Roy Mathias | Wing | Phil Orchard | 2 |
| 3 | Frank Wilson | Centre | Fred Ah Kuoi | 3 |
| 4 | David Willicombe | Centre | Dennis Williams (c) | 4 |
| 5 | John Bevan | Wing | Tony Gordon | 5 |
| 6 | Bill Francis | Stand off/Five eighth | Robert Jarvis | 6 |
| 7 | Peter Banner | Scrum half/Half back | John Smith | 7 |
| 8 | Jim Mills | Prop forward — sent off during the match | Dane Sorensen | 8 |
| 9 | Tony Fisher | Hooker | Tom Conroy | 9 |
| 10 | Mick Murphy | Prop forward | John Greengrass | 10 |
| 11 | John Mantle | Second row | Kurt Sorensen | 11 |
| 12 | Stuart Gallacher | Second row | Tony Coll | 12 |
| 13 | Brian Gregory | Loose forward/Lock forward | Peter Gurnick | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| Interchange | Clive Jones | Lyndsay Proctor | Interchange | |
| Bruce Dickison | Interchange | |||
| Les Pearce | Coach | George Menzies | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Georges Jameau — nationality not confirmed in sources found |
| Player of the match | Tony Coll (New Zealand) |
Match report
Played at St Helen's, Swansea. Wales won a high-scoring, close contest 25-24. The match is historically notable for Wales prop Jim Mills being sent off during an on-field altercation; he was subsequently suspended for the remainder of the season. Despite finishing on the losing side, New Zealand second-rower Tony Coll was named player of the match.
Wales finished the tournament fourth overall (2 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses); New Zealand finished last (1 win, 1 draw, 6 losses).
Sourcing caveat: This match's scoresheet is one of the least complete found this session: RLP's own record names only Bill Francis (2 tries) for Wales and Tony Coll (1 try) for New Zealand, alongside goals it could not reliably split between New Zealand's two kickers (Tony Gordon and Warren Collicoat). Neither side's listed scorers reconcile to the 25-24 final score under this era's 3-point try scoring -- this appears to be a genuine gap in the primary source's historical record for this particular fixture rather than a research failure, and is flagged accordingly rather than filled with a guess.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1975 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 13–8 Wales
- 2000 Rugby League World Cup (Group B): Wales 18–58 New Zealand