France 10–10 Great Britain — World Cup Table, 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup
16 Feb 1986 · Parc des Sports, Avignon, France · Attendance: 4,000Lowest-attended match of the tournament
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup: France 10–10 Great Britain, at Parc des Sports, Avignon, France on 16 Feb 1986.
Scorers
| France | Tries: Dumas Goals: Dumas (3) |
| Great Britain | Tries: Hanley Goals: Crooks (3) |
Teams
| France | Great Britain | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gilles Dumas | Fullback | Mick Burke | 1 |
| 2 | Didier Couston | Wing | Des Drummond | 2 |
| 3 | Alain Maury | Centre | Garry Schofield | 3 |
| 4 | Philippe Fourquet | Centre | Ellery Hanley | 4 |
| 5 | Pascal Laroche | Wing | Henderson Gill | 5 |
| 6 | Dominique Espugna | Stand off/Five eighth | Tony Myler | 6 |
| 7 | Patrick Entat | Scrum half/Half back | Deryck Fox | 7 |
| 8 | Max Chantal | Prop forward | Lee Crooks | 8 |
| 9 | Patrick Baco | Hooker | David Watkinson | 9 |
| 10 | Serge Titeux | Prop forward | Shaun Wane | 10 |
| 11 | Guy Laforgue (c) | Second row | Ian Potter | 11 |
| 12 | Marc Palanque | Second row | John Fieldhouse | 12 |
| 13 | Thierry Bernabé | Loose forward/Lock forward | Harry Pinner (c) | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| Interchange | Jean-Luc Rabot | |||
| Interchange | Denis Bergé | |||
| Tas Baitieri | Coach | Maurice Bamford | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Kevin Roberts (Australia) |
| Player of the match | — not identified in sources found |
Match report
Game 4 of the 1985-88 World Cup table stage, played at the Parc des Sports in Avignon. Great Britain dominated the first half, racing into a 10-2 lead by the break, built on a try from Ellery Hanley plus three goals from Lee Crooks, with France's only first-half points a single Gilles Dumas goal. Britain looked set for a comfortable win, but their discipline unravelled after the interval: both Crooks and Tony Myler were sin-binned for ten minutes apiece, and Britain failed to add a single point across the remaining 40 minutes.
France capitalised fully. Fullback and goal-kicker Gilles Dumas scored a try and added two further goals for a personal haul of 10 points, hauling France level at 10-10 by full time. France also had prop Max Chantal sin-binned during the match. The draw denied Great Britain what had looked a certain victory.
Sourcing caveat: Great Britain's bench for this match is not identified in sources found.
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
- 1977 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 4–23 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