Australia 70–8 Papua New Guinea — World Cup Table, 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup
20 Jul 1988 · Eric Weissel Oval, Wagga Wagga, Australia · Attendance: 11,685
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup: Australia 70–8 Papua New Guinea, at Eric Weissel Oval, Wagga Wagga, Australia on 20 Jul 1988.
Scorers
| Australia | Tries: O'Connor (4); Langer (2); Meninga (2); Conescu; Currie; Fullerton-Smith; Jack; Lewis; Miller Goals: O'Connor (7/14) |
| Papua New Guinea | Tries: Morea Goals: Numapo (2/2) |
Teams
| Australia | Papua New Guinea | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garry Jack | Fullback | Ipisa Wanega | 1 |
| 2 | Michael O'Connor | Wing | Arnold Krewanty | 2 |
| 3 | Mal Meninga | Centre | Dairi Kovae | 3 |
| 4 | Peter Jackson | Centre | Bal Numapo (c) | 4 |
| 5 | Tony Currie | Wing | Mea Morea | 5 |
| 6 | Wally Lewis (c) | Stand off/Five eighth | Lauta Atoi | 6 |
| 7 | Allan Langer | Scrum half/Half back | Darius Haili | 7 |
| 8 | Paul Dunn | Prop forward | Thomas Rombuk | 8 |
| 9 | Greg Conescu | Hooker | Michael Matmillo | 9 |
| 10 | Phil Daley | Prop forward | Daroa Ben-Moide | 10 |
| 11 | Wally Fullerton-Smith | Second row | Mathias Kambra | 11 |
| 12 | Gavin Miller | Second row | Tuiyo Evei | 12 |
| 13 | Wayne Pearce | Loose forward/Lock forward | Joe Gispe | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Des Hasler | Andrew Kuno | 14 | |
| 15 | Paul Vautin | Sam Karara | 15 | |
| Don Furner | Coach | Skerry Palanga | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Neville Kesha (Australia) |
| Player of the match | Allan Langer (Australia) |
Match report
The sixth Test of an eight-match Kumuls tour of Australia, and one of the most one-sided results in the sport's international history. Played before a sellout, ground-record crowd of 11,685 at Eric Weissel Oval, Australia's Kangaroos ran in 14 tries to one, leading 38-0 at halftime. Winger Michael O'Connor had a career-defining game, scoring four tries and kicking 7 of 14 attempts for a personal haul of 30 points, at the time an individual scoring record in an international match. Allan Langer, in his fledgling representative career, was named player of the match after two tries.
PNG's lone try came from winger Mea Morea, with captain Bal Numapo landing both of his conversion attempts. The 62-point winning margin was a new record for the largest margin in international rugby league at the time. The result confirmed Australia's dominance atop the World Cup table ahead of their eventual final win over New Zealand.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Papua New Guinea 12–62 Australia
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Papua New Guinea 6–40 Australia
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Australia 36–14 Papua New Guinea
- 2008 Rugby League World Cup (Group A): Australia 46–6 Papua New Guinea