France 21–4 Papua New Guinea — World Cup Table, 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup
15 Nov 1987 · Stade d'Albert Domec, Carcassonne, France · Attendance: 5,000
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup: France 21–4 Papua New Guinea, at Stade d'Albert Domec, Carcassonne, France on 15 Nov 1987.
Scorers
| France | Tries: Fraisse (2); Pons; Ratier Goals: Bourrel (2) Drop goals: Bourrel |
| Papua New Guinea | Tries: Kovae |
Teams
| France | Papua New Guinea | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jean-Philippe Pougeau | Fullback | Dairi Kovae | 1 |
| 2 | Hugues Ratier | Wing | Arnold Krewanty | 2 |
| 3 | Guy Delaunay | Centre | Kepi Saea | 3 |
| 4 | David Fraisse | Centre | Lauta Atoi | 4 |
| 5 | Cyril Pons | Wing | Mea Morea | 5 |
| 6 | Jacques Molinier | Stand off/Five eighth | Bal Numapo (c) | 6 |
| 7 | Frederic Bourrel | Scrum half/Half back | Tony Kila | 7 |
| 8 | Jean-Luc Rabot | Prop forward | Ati Lomutopa | 8 |
| 9 | Mathieu Khedimi | Hooker | Roy Heni | 9 |
| 10 | Pierre Ailleres | Prop forward | Arebo Taumaku | 10 |
| 11 | Pierre Montgaillard | Second row | Bernard Waketsi | 11 |
| 12 | Daniel Divet | Second row | Bobby Ako | 12 |
| 13 | Guy Laforgue | Loose forward/Lock forward | Gideon Kouoru | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| Interchange | Gilles Dumas | Darius Haili | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Daniel Verdes | Mathias Kambra | Interchange | |
| Tas Baitieri | Coach | Barry Wilson | ||
Match officials
| Referee | John Holdsworth (England) |
| Player of the match | — not identified in sources found |
Match report
Played at the Stade d'Albert Domec in Carcassonne during a difficult year for French rugby league: France had been due to tour Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in 1987 but were forced to cancel those away fixtures entirely due to financial difficulties within the French governing body, with the host nations awarded competition points as compensation. Against that backdrop, this home win over PNG (making their first-ever World Cup appearance) restored some pride for the French game.
France's win was built on a brace of tries from David Fraisse, with further tries to Cyril Pons and Hugues Ratier, converted twice and supplemented by a field goal from goal-kicking half Frederic Bourrel. Papua New Guinea's reply came through a try from fullback Dairi Kovae, unconverted.
Sourcing caveat: RLP lists Bal Numapo as captain for this specific match; a separate Wikipedia squad-list page for the wider tournament names Tony Kila as PNG's general squad captain — captaincy for this fixture is treated as disputed between sources, with the match-specific RLP source favoured.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): Papua New Guinea 18–20 France
- 1989–1992 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): France 28–14 Papua New Guinea
- 2000 Rugby League World Cup (Group C): Papua New Guinea 23–20 France
- 2013 Rugby League World Cup (Group B): Papua New Guinea 8–9 France