New Zealand 12–30 Great Britain — World Cup Table, 1977 Rugby League World Cup
12 Jun 1977 · Addington Showground, Christchurch, New Zealand · Attendance: 9,000
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1977 Rugby League World Cup: New Zealand 12–30 Great Britain, at Addington Showground, Christchurch, New Zealand on 12 Jun 1977.
Scorers
| New Zealand | Tries: Fisher (2) Goals: Collicoat (3) |
| Great Britain | Tries: Wright; Bowman; Hogan; Millward; Nicholls Goals: Fairbairn — exact goal count not fully confirmed in sources found (source extractions were internally inconsistent) |
Teams
| New Zealand | Great Britain | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warren Collicoat | Fullback | George Fairbairn | 1 |
| 2 | Kevin Fisher | Wing | Stuart Wright | 2 |
| 3 | Fred Ah Kuoi | Centre | John Holmes | 3 |
| 4 | Olsen Filipaina | Centre | Les Dyl | 4 |
| 5 | John Whittaker | Wing | Bill Francis | 5 |
| 6 | Dennis Williams | Stand off/Five eighth | Roger Millward (c) | 6 |
| 7 | John Smith | Scrum half/Half back | Steve Nash | 7 |
| 8 | Lyndsay Proctor | Prop forward | Jimmy Thompson | 8 |
| 9 | Alan Rushton | Hooker | David Ward | 9 |
| 10 | Whetu Henry | Prop forward | Steve Pitchford | 10 |
| 11 | Kurt Sorensen | Second row | George Nicholls | 11 |
| 12 | Tony Coll (c) | Second row | Eddie Bowman | 12 |
| 13 | Whare Henry | Loose forward/Lock forward | Phil Hogan | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Mark Graham | Len Casey | 14 | |
| Ron Ackland | Coach | David Watkins | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Marcel Caillol (France) |
| Player of the match | Roger Millward (Great Britain) |
Match report
The fourth match of the 1977 World Cup pool phase, played at Addington Showground, Christchurch. Great Britain, captained by Roger Millward and coached by David Watkins, arrived having already beaten France and looking to build on that form, while the Kiwis, coached by Ron Ackland and captained by Tony Coll, were still searching for their first win of the tournament after an opening defeat to Australia. Great Britain led at the break and pulled clear in the second half for a 30-12 win, their second from two starts.
Five different Great Britain players crossed for tries -- Stuart Wright, Eddie Bowman, Phil Hogan, Roger Millward and George Nicholls -- reflecting the strength in depth of the touring Lions squad, with fullback George Fairbairn again prominent with the boot. Millward was named player of the match. For New Zealand, winger Kevin Fisher was the shining light with two tries, but the Kiwis fell to 0-2 in the tournament table.
Sourcing caveat: Under this era's 3-point try scoring, New Zealand's total reconciles exactly (2 tries + 3 goals = 12). Great Britain's five named try scorers (5 tries = 15 points under 3-point tries) leave 15 points to be accounted for by goals, which would require 7.5 goals -- not a whole number -- so either a sixth British try or a different goal count than sourced is likely; repeated source extractions of the goal-kicking figure were internally inconsistent, so the exact figure is flagged as unconfirmed 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
- 1972 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Great Britain 53–19 New Zealand
- 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