Great Britain 52–4 France — World Cup Table, 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup
24 Jan 1987 · Headingley, Leeds, England · Attendance: 6,567
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
World Cup Table, 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup: Great Britain 52–4 France, at Headingley, Leeds, England on 24 Jan 1987.
Scorers
| Great Britain | Tries: Edwards (2); Gregory (2); Hanley (2); Forster; Goodway; Lydon Goals: Lydon (8/10); Gill (0/1) |
| France | Goals: Perez (2) |
Teams
| Great Britain | France | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Lydon | Fullback | André Perez | 1 |
| 2 | Mark Forster | Wing | Didier Couston | 2 |
| 3 | Garry Schofield | Centre | Roger Palisses | 3 |
| 4 | David Stephenson | Centre | Hugues Ratier | 4 |
| 5 | Henderson Gill | Wing | Cyril Pons | 5 |
| 6 | Ellery Hanley (c) | Stand off/Five eighth | Dominique Espugna | 6 |
| 7 | Shaun Edwards | Scrum half/Half back | Gilles Dumas | 7 |
| 8 | David Hobbs | Prop forward | Yves Storer | 8 |
| 9 | Kevin Beardmore | Hooker | Yannick Mantese | 9 |
| 10 | Lee Crooks | Prop forward | Jean-Luc Rabot | 10 |
| 11 | Andy Goodway | Second row | Daniel Verdès | 11 |
| 12 | Roy Haggerty | Second row | Marc Palanques (c) | 12 |
| 13 | Mike Gregory | Loose forward/Lock forward | Thierry Bernabé | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| Interchange | David Creasser | Serge Titeux | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Keith England | Patrick Rocci | Interchange | |
| Mal Reilly | Coach | Tas Baitieri | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Mick Stone |
| Player of the match | Shaun Edwards (Great Britain) |
Match report
Malcolm 'Mal' Reilly's first match in charge of Great Britain as head coach, taking over the reins for the 1985-88 World Cup campaign from Maurice Bamford. Great Britain were utterly dominant, running in nine tries to none in front of 6,567 at Headingley. Shaun Edwards, Mike Gregory and captain Ellery Hanley each scored two tries, with further scores from Mark Forster, Andy Goodway and goal-kicker Joe Lydon, who also landed 8 of his 10 conversion attempts. France's only points came from two penalty/conversion goals kicked by André Perez.
This crushing win was part of a strong 1987 for Britain, who also thumped Papua New Guinea 42-0 later that year, as they pushed for a top-two finish in the World Cup table. Ultimately Britain's campaign came down to a sudden-death final group match against New Zealand, which GB lost 12-10, sending the Kiwis through to the final instead.
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): France 10–10 Great Britain
- 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