New Zealand at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup

The 1995 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team to compete at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup. New Zealand won Group B of the tournament, before losing to Australia 20-30 in a semi-final.

Build up

Earlier in the year, New Zealand played two test matches against France, winning one and drawing the other. New Zealand then played a three match test series against Australia, losing all three tests.

Staff

• Head coach: Frank Endacott
• Assistant coach: Gary Kemble

Squad

Final squad

Player	Games	T	G	FG	Points	Position	Club
Richie Barnett	2	1	–	–	4	FB/CE	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Richie Blackmore	3	3	–	–	12	WG/CE	Auckland Warriors
Syd Eru	1	–	–	–	–	HK	Auckland Warriors
Gary Freeman	1	–	–	–	–	HB	Penrith Panthers
Daryl Halligan	–	–	–	–	–	WG	Canterbury Bulldogs
Sean Hoppe	3	2	–	–	8	WG	Auckland Warriors
Mark Horo	3	–	–	–	–	SR	Western Suburbs Magpies
Kevin Iro	3	1	–	–	4	CE	Leeds Rhinos
Tony Iro	3	1	–	–	4	SR	Sydney City Roosters
Stacey Jones	3	–	–	–	–	HB	Auckland Warriors
Stephen Kearney	3	–	–	–	–	SR	Auckland Warriors
Tony Kemp	3	1	–	–	4	FE	South Queensland Crushers
John Lomax	1	–	–	–	–	PR	Canberra Raiders
Jason Lowrie	3	–	–	–	–	PR	Sydney City Roosters
Gene Ngamu	3	–	1	–	2	FE/HB	Auckland Warriors
Hitro Okesene	3	1	–	–	4	PR/HK	Auckland Warriors
Henry Paul	3	–	–	–	–	FB/FE	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Quentin Pongia	3	–	–	–	–	PR	Canberra Raiders
Matthew Ridge (c)	3	1	10	1	25	FB	Manly Sea Eagles
Brent Stuart	–	–	–	–	–	PR	Western Suburbs Magpies
John Timu	–	–	–	–	–	CE	Canterbury Bulldogs
Brendon Tuuta	–	–	–	–	–	HB/LK	Western Reds
Ruben Wiki	3	–	–	–	–	CE	Canberra Raiders
Jason Williams	1	–	–	–	–	WG	Canterbury Bulldogs

Fixtures

Warm up match

Before leaving for the World Cup, the squad played the New Zealand Residents at Ericsson Stadium and defeated them 20-4.

World Cup Group B

Team	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points
New Zealand	2	2	0	0	47	30	+17	4
Tonga	2	0	1	1	52	53	−1	1
Papua New Guinea	2	0	1	1	34	50	−16	1

Tonga

8 October

New Zealand	25–24	Tonga

Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington Attendance: 8,083

Papua New Guinea

13 October

New Zealand	22–6	Papua New Guinea

Knowsley Road, St Helens Attendance: 8,679

Semi-final

22 October

New Zealand	20-30	Australia

McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield Attendance: 16,608

The match was 20-all after 80 minutes. In extra time Australia scored two tries to win the match.^[1][2]

References

1. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Australia vs. New Zealand - Rugby League Project".
2. "RLWC 1995: Australia".