France 4–23 Great Britain — World Cup Table, 1977 Rugby League World Cup
5 Jun 1977 · Carlaw Park, Auckland, New Zealand · Attendance: 10,000
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1977 Rugby League World Cup: France 4–23 Great Britain, at Carlaw Park, Auckland, New Zealand on 5 Jun 1977.
Scorers
| France | Goals: Calle (2) |
| Great Britain | Tries: Dyl; Millward; Wright Goals: Fairbairn (7/8) |
Teams
| France | Great Britain | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacques Guigue | Fullback | George Fairbairn | 1 |
| 2 | José Moya | Wing | Keith Fielding | 2 |
| 3 | Christian Laskawiec | Centre | John Holmes | 3 |
| 4 | André Ruiz | Centre | Les Dyl | 4 |
| 5 | Patrick Chauvet | Wing | Stuart Wright | 5 |
| 6 | José Calle (c) | Stand off/Five eighth | Roger Millward (c) | 6 |
| 7 | Guy Alard | Scrum half/Half back | Steve Nash | 7 |
| 8 | Michel Cassin | Prop forward | Jimmy Thompson | 8 |
| 9 | Hervé Bonet | Hooker | David Ward | 9 |
| 10 | Henri Daniel | Prop forward | Steve Pitchford | 10 |
| 11 | Jean-Pierre Sauret | Second row | George Nicholls | 11 |
| 12 | Jean-Jacques Cologni | Second row | Eddie Bowman | 12 |
| 13 | Joël Roosebrouck | Loose forward/Lock forward | Phil Hogan | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Guy Rodriguez | Len Casey | 14 | |
| Ken Gill | 15 | |||
| Yves Bégou | Coach | David Watkins | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Bob Cooper |
| Player of the match | Phil Hogan (Great Britain) |
Match report
Game 2 of the 1977 World Cup pool phase, played at Carlaw Park, Auckland, four days after the tournament opener. Great Britain, captained by Roger Millward and coached by David Watkins, took control early and led 16-4 at halftime before adding a further seven points after the break. France's entire tally came via two long-range goals from playmaker-captain José Calle -- France did not cross the try-line at all.
Great Britain's three tries were shared between centre Les Dyl, stand-off/captain Roger Millward, and winger Stuart Wright, while fullback George Fairbairn had an outstanding goal-kicking display, converting 7 of 8 attempts. Loose forward Phil Hogan was named player of the match for Great Britain despite not scoring, in recognition of a dominant forward performance. The result effectively ended France's chance of finishing top of the pool; France went on to lose all three of their pool matches.
Sourcing caveat: A Wikipedia tournament summary table lists José Calle as France's coach and Yves Bégou as captain, which conflicts with rugbyleagueproject.org's match-specific page (Calle as playing captain, wearing #6 and appearing in the starting lineup; Bégou as coach, not part of the playing XIII). Since Bégou does not appear as a player, the match-specific RLP data is treated as more reliable here.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 13–13 Great Britain
- 1954 Rugby League World Cup (Final): Great Britain 16–12 France
- 1957 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 5–23 Great Britain
- 1960 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 33–7 France
- 1968 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 7–2 Great Britain
- 1970 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 6–0 France
- 1972 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 4–13 Great Britain
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 10–10 Great Britain
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 52–4 France
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 10–45 Great Britain
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 36–0 France