New Zealand 20–18 England — Semi-final, 2013 Rugby League World Cup
23 Nov 2013 · Wembley Stadium, London, England · Attendance: 67,545
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Semi-final, 2013 Rugby League World Cup: New Zealand 20–18 England, at Wembley Stadium, London, England on 23 Nov 2013.
Scoring timeline
| 16′ | England — try, O'Loughlin |
| 31′ | New Zealand — try, Tuivasa-Sheck |
| 44′ | New Zealand — try, Tuivasa-Sheck |
| 58′ | England — try, Watkins |
| 67′ | England — try, S. Burgess |
| 80′ | New Zealand — try, Johnson |
Tries in order scored, with the conversion kicked/missed alongside each one where our source data lets us match a kicker to that specific try. Sources don't record exact minutes for missed kicks, so misses are matched by elimination (attempts left over once every made kick is accounted for), not sequenced by time. Standalone penalty goals are shown separately below, not attached to a try.
Scorers
| New Zealand | Tries: Tuivasa-Sheck (2) 31', 44'; Johnson 80' Goals: Johnson (4/5) 33', 38', 53', 80' |
| England | Tries: O'Loughlin 16'; Watkins 58'; S. Burgess 67' Goals: Sinfield (3/4) 17', 25', 68' |
This result sent New Zealand into the Final against Australia.
Teams
| New Zealand | England | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Locke | Fullback | Sam Tomkins | 1 |
| 2 | Roger Tuivasa-Sheck | Wing | Josh Charnley | 2 |
| 3 | Dean Whare | Centre | Kallum Watkins | 3 |
| 4 | Bryson Goodwin | Centre | Leroy Cudjoe | 4 |
| 5 | Jason Nightingale | Wing | Ryan Hall | 5 |
| 6 | Kieran Foran | Stand off/Five eighth | Gareth Widdop | 6 |
| 7 | Shaun Johnson | Scrum half/Half back | Kevin Sinfield (c) | 7 |
| 8 | Jared Waerea-Hargreaves | Prop forward | James Graham | 8 |
| 9 | Issac Luke | Hooker | James Roby | 9 |
| 10 | Jesse Bromwich | Prop forward | Sam Burgess | 10 |
| 11 | Simon Mannering (c) | Second row | Brett Ferres | 11 |
| 12 | Sonny Bill Williams | Second row | Ben Westwood | 12 |
| 13 | Elijah Taylor | Loose forward/Lock forward | Sean O'Loughlin | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Frank-Paul Nu'uausala | Rob Burrow | 14 | |
| 15 | Sam Kasiano | George Burgess | 15 | |
| 16 | Ben Matulino | Chris Hill | 16 | |
| 19 | Alex Glenn | Carl Ablett | 17 | |
| Stephen Kearney | Coach | Steve McNamara | ||
Match officials
| Kick-off | 13:00 GMT (UTC±00:00) |
| Referee | Ben Cummins (Australia) |
| Touch judges | James Child (England), Grant Atkins (Australia) |
| Player of the match | Sam Burgess (England) |
Match report
New Zealand's back-row numbering (Mannering/Williams/Taylor) is kept consistent here with the tournament's Final entry, which was independently verified — a separate research pass on this semi-final returned a conflicting 12/13/17 split for the same three players, which couldn't be reconciled with the Final's sourcing and is treated as the less reliable read; Alex Glenn's bench number 19 is corroborated across both.
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
- 2000 Rugby League World Cup (Semi-final): New Zealand 49–6 England
- 2008 Rugby League World Cup (Group A): England 24–36 New Zealand
- 2008 Rugby League World Cup (Semi-final): New Zealand 32–22 England