Wales 38–6 Cook Islands — Group B, 2000 Rugby League World Cup
29 Oct 2000 · Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales · Attendance: 5,016
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Group B, 2000 Rugby League World Cup: Wales 38–6 Cook Islands, at Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales on 29 Oct 2000.
Scorers
| Wales | Tries: Tassell (3); Briers; Cunningham; Jenkins Goals: Harris (7) |
| Cook Islands | Tries: Te Mata Goals: Piakura (1) — exact goals-made/attempted figure not reliably confirmed in sources found, inferred from arithmetic |
Teams
| Wales | Cook Islands | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Atcheson | Fullback | Richard Piakura | 1 |
| 2 | Paul Sterling | Wing | Tangia Tongiia | 2 |
| 3 | Jason Critchley | Centre | Steve Berryman | 3 |
| 4 | Kris Tassell | Centre | Kevin Iro (c) | 4 |
| 5 | Anthony Sullivan | Wing | Karl Te Mata | 5 |
| 6 | Iestyn Harris (c) | Stand off/Five eighth | Craig Bowen | 6 |
| 7 | Lee Briers | Scrum half/Half back | Leroy Joe | 7 |
| 8 | Anthony Farrell | Prop forward | George Tuakura | 8 |
| 9 | Keiron Cunningham | Hooker | Zane Clark | 9 |
| 10 | Dave Whittle | Prop forward | Jason Temu | 10 |
| 11 | Justin Morgan | Second row | Patrick Kuru | 11 |
| 12 | Mick Jenkins | Second row | Tyrone Pau | 12 |
| 13 | Dean Busby | Loose forward/Lock forward | Anthony Samuel | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| Interchange | Ian Watson | Michael Andersson | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Wes Davies | Peter Lewis | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Paul Highton | Tere Glassie | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Garreth Carvell | Adam Watene | Interchange | |
| Clive Griffiths | Coach | Stan Martin | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Thierry Alibert (France) |
| Touch judges | Not identified in sources found |
| Player of the match | Not identified in sources found |
Match report
Wales opened their World Cup campaign with a 38-6 win over Cook Islands at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, level at 6-6 at half-time before Kris Tassell's hat-trick of tries pulled the hosts clear in the second half. Captain Iestyn Harris kicked seven goals.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 2013 Rugby League World Cup (Group D): Wales 24–28 Cook Islands
- 2021 Rugby League World Cup (Group D): Wales 12–18 Cook Islands