New Zealand 84–10 Cook Islands — Group B, 2000 Rugby League World Cup
2 Nov 2000 · Madejski Stadium, Reading, England · Attendance: 3,982
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Group B, 2000 Rugby League World Cup: New Zealand 84–10 Cook Islands, at Madejski Stadium, Reading, England on 2 Nov 2000.
Scorers
| New Zealand | Tries: Barnett (2); Hunter-Paul (2); Lavea (2); Vaealiki (2); Cayless; Lauiti'iti; Pongia; T. Puletua; Vagana; Vainikolo; Wiki Goals: Lavea (12) |
| Cook Islands | Tries: Iro; Noovao Goals: Piakura (1) |
Teams
| New Zealand | Cook Islands | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richie Barnett (c) | Fullback | Richard Piakura | 1 |
| 2 | Nigel Vagana | Wing | Tangia Tongiia | 2 |
| 3 | Richie Blackmore | Centre | Peter Lewis | 3 |
| 4 | David Vaealiki | Centre | Kevin Iro (c) | 4 |
| 5 | Lesley Vainikolo | Wing | Karl Te Mata | 5 |
| 6 | Tasesa Lavea | Stand off/Five eighth | Leroy Joe | 6 |
| 7 | Robbie Hunter-Paul | Scrum half/Half back | Michael Andersson | 7 |
| 8 | Joe Vagana | Prop forward | George Tuakura | 8 |
| 9 | Richard Swain | Hooker | Zane Clark | 9 |
| 10 | Nathan Cayless | Prop forward | Jason Temu | 10 |
| 11 | Ali Lauiti'iti | Second row | Anthony Samuel | 11 |
| 12 | Tony Puletua | Second row | Tere Glassie | 12 |
| 13 | Ruben Wiki | Loose forward/Lock forward | Meti Noovao | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| Interchange | Stacey Jones | Craig Bowen | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Craig Smith | Patrick Kuru | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Quentin Pongia | Vaine Kino | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Stephen Kearney | Sonny Shepherd | Interchange | |
| Frank Endacott | Coach | Stan Martin | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Tim Mander |
| Touch judges | Not identified in sources found |
| Player of the match | Not identified in sources found |
Match report
New Zealand thrashed Cook Islands 84-10 at the Madejski Stadium, Reading, leading 48-4 at half-time and running in 15 tries in all, with five-eighth Tasesa Lavea among the scorers and kicking all twelve of New Zealand's conversions.
Sourcing caveat: Grokipedia credited Vainikolo with a hat-trick (3 tries) instead of RLP's 1 try; RLP's version was retained as it reconciles arithmetically to the 15-try total.