Australia 25–12 New Zealand — Final, 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup
9 Oct 1988 · Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand · Attendance: 47,363Highest-attended match of the tournament
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Final, 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup: Australia 25–12 New Zealand, at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand on 9 Oct 1988.
Scorers
| Australia | Tries: Langer (2); Miller; Shearer Goals: O'Connor (4/7) Drop goals: Elias — single-sourced, unconfirmed |
| New Zealand | Tries: Tony Iro; Kevin Iro Goals: Brown (2/5) |
Teams
| Australia | New Zealand | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garry Jack | Fullback | Gary Mercer | 1 |
| 2 | Dale Shearer | Wing | Tony Iro | 2 |
| 3 | Andrew Farrar | Centre | Kevin Iro | 3 |
| 4 | Mark McGaw | Centre | Dean Bell (c) | 4 |
| 5 | Michael O'Connor | Wing | Mark Elia | 5 |
| 6 | Wally Lewis (c) | Stand off/Five eighth | Gary Freeman | 6 |
| 7 | Allan Langer | Scrum half/Half back | Clayton Friend | 7 |
| 8 | Paul Dunn | Prop forward | Adrian Shelford | 8 |
| 9 | Ben Elias | Hooker | Wayne Wallace | 9 |
| 10 | Steve Roach | Prop forward | Peter Brown | 10 |
| 11 | Paul Sironen | Second row | Kurt Sorensen | 11 |
| 12 | Gavin Miller | Second row | Mark Graham | 12 |
| 13 | Wayne Pearce | Loose forward/Lock forward | Mark Horo | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Terry Lamb | Shane Cooper | 14 | |
| 15 | David Gillespie | Sam Stewart | 15 | |
| Don Furner | Coach | Tony Gordon | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Graham Ainui (Papua New Guinea) |
| Player of the match | Gavin Miller (Australia) |
Match report
Australia, chasing a third straight world title, blitzed the hosts in front of a New Zealand rugby league record crowd at Eden Park, racing to a 21-0 halftime lead built on tries to Allan Langer (2) and Gavin Miller, with Michael O'Connor dominant off the kicking tee. The match turned physical and undisciplined, with several players from both sides sin-binned. Australian captain Wally Lewis broke his forearm in the 15th minute tackling debutant winger Tony Iro but played on with one arm for roughly 20 more minutes before being withdrawn once the game was effectively decided.
New Zealand improved after the break, with brothers Tony and Kevin Iro each crossing for tries converted by Peter Brown, but Dale Shearer's early second-half try for Australia had already put the result out of reach. Australia closed it out 25-12 for their sixth World Cup and third consecutive title of the 1985-88 cycle. Gavin Miller was named player of the match.
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): Australia 36–8 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
- 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