New Zealand 49–6 England — Semi-final, 2000 Rugby League World Cup
18 Nov 2000 · Reebok Stadium, Bolton, England · Attendance: 16,032
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Semi-final, 2000 Rugby League World Cup: New Zealand 49–6 England, at Reebok Stadium, Bolton, England on 18 Nov 2000.
Scorers
| New Zealand | Tries: Talau (2); Vainikolo (2); Kearney; Swann; Vagana; Wiki Goals: Paul (8) Drop goals: Paul (1) |
| England | Tries: Smith Goals: Farrell (1) |
This result sent New Zealand into the Final against Australia.
Teams
| New Zealand | England | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richie Barnett (c) | Fullback | Kris Radlinski | 1 |
| 2 | Nigel Vagana | Wing | Chev Walker | 2 |
| 3 | Tonie Carroll | Centre | Scott Naylor | 3 |
| 4 | Willie Talau | Centre | Keith Senior | 4 |
| 5 | Lesley Vainikolo | Wing | Paul Wellens | 5 |
| 6 | Henry Paul | Stand off/Five eighth | Paul Deacon | 6 |
| 7 | Stacey Jones | Scrum half/Half back | Sean Long | 7 |
| 8 | Craig Smith | Prop forward | Stuart Fielden | 8 |
| 9 | Richard Swain | Hooker | Tony Smith | 9 |
| 10 | Quentin Pongia | Prop forward | Harvey Howard | 10 |
| 11 | Matt Rua | Second row | Paul Sculthorpe | 11 |
| 12 | Stephen Kearney | Second row | Mike Forshaw | 12 |
| 13 | Ruben Wiki | Loose forward/Lock forward | Andy Farrell (c) | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| Interchange | Robbie Hunter-Paul | Jamie Peacock | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Joe Vagana | Andy Hay | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Nathan Cayless | Darren Fleary | Interchange | |
| Interchange | Logan Swann | Paul Anderson | Interchange | |
| Frank Endacott | Coach | John Kear | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Tim Mander (Australia) |
| Player of the match | Not confirmed to Tier-1 standard |
Match report
New Zealand thrashed England 49-6 at Bolton's Reebok Stadium, leading 21-0 at half-time on the way to a second straight World Cup final against Australia. Willie Talau and Lesley Vainikolo both scored twice; England's only points came from a Tony Smith try converted by Andy Farrell.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1975 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): New Zealand 17–17 England
- 1975 Rugby League World Cup (World Cup Table): England 27–12 New Zealand
- 2008 Rugby League World Cup (Group A): England 24–36 New Zealand
- 2008 Rugby League World Cup (Semi-final): New Zealand 32–22 England
- 2013 Rugby League World Cup (Semi-final): New Zealand 20–18 England