Australia 86–6 South Africa — Group A, 1995 Rugby League World Cup
10 Oct 1995 · Gateshead International Stadium, Gateshead, England · Attendance: 9,181
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Group A, 1995 Rugby League World Cup: Australia 86–6 South Africa, at Gateshead International Stadium, Gateshead, England on 10 Oct 1995.
Scorers
| Australia | Tries: Hopoate (3); Johns (2); Moore (2); McGregor (2); O'Davis (2); Brasher; Dymock; Kosef; Raper; Smith Goals: Johns (11) |
| South Africa | Tries: Watts Goals: van Wyke (1) |
Teams
| Australia | South Africa | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robbie O'Davis | Fullback | Pierre van Wyke | 1 |
| 2 | Brett Dallas | Wing | Guy Coombe | 2 |
| 3 | Danny Moore | Centre | Andrew Ballot | 3 |
| 4 | Paul McGregor | Centre | Willem Boshoff | 4 |
| 5 | John Hopoate | Wing | Mark Johnson | 5 |
| 6 | Matthew Johns | Stand off/Five eighth | Barend Alkema | 6 |
| 7 | Andrew Johns | Scrum half/Half back | Kobus van Deventer | 7 |
| 8 | Adam Muir | Prop forward | Gideon Watts | 8 |
| 9 | Aaron Raper | Hooker | Francois Cloete | 9 |
| 10 | Paul Harragon (c) | Prop forward | Jaco Booysen (c) | 10 |
| 11 | Billy Moore | Second row | Gerald Williams | 11 |
| 12 | Jason Smith | Second row | Kost Human | 12 |
| 13 | Nik Kosef | Loose forward/Lock forward | Tim Fourie | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Tim Brasher | Eugene Powell | 15 | |
| 15 | Jim Dymock | Nico Serfontein | 16 | |
| 16 | Wayne Bartrim | Jaco van Niekerk | 17 | |
| 17 | Mark Carroll | |||
| Bob Fulton | Coach | Tony Fisher | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Russell Smith (Castleford) |
| Touch judges | Not identified in sources found |
| Player of the match | Not identified in sources found |
Match report
Australia set a then World Cup and international try-scoring record with a 16-try 86-6 rout of South Africa at Gateshead, leading 52-0 at half-time. Winger John Hopoate scored a hat-trick.
Sourcing caveat: Grokipedia attributed South Africa's try to 'Pierre van Wyk' rather than Gideon Watts; RLP's internally-consistent match sheet (Watts try, van Wyke goal) was retained.