New Zealand at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup

The 2013 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team to compete at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. New Zealand won Pool B of the tournament as well as their quarter and semi-finals, before losing to Australia 2-34 in the World Cup final.

New Zealand were the defending World Cup champions after winning the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.

Background

Alongside Australia and France, New Zealand have competed at all thirteen World Cups. New Zealand finished runner up in 1988 and 2000 before winning the 2008 World Cup by defeating Australia 34-20 in the final.

After the 2008 tournament, international football focused on three Four Nations tournaments held between 2009 and 2011. New Zealand won the 2010 tournament but finished third in 2009 and 2011. New Zealand also lost four Anzac Test matches to Australia in this period and two trans-Tasman test matches.

Build up

New Zealand held a pre-season training camp in Sydney in January 2013 to start their World Cup build up. The camp involved between 30 and 40 players and was funded by Sport New Zealand. ^[1]

In February, Benji Marshall was stripped of the captaincy and replaced with Simon Mannering. Marshall had been the Kiwis captain since 2009 but his form had been poor at international level as captain. ^{[2] [3]}

The New Zealand Kiwis played the annual ANZAC test against Australia at Canberra Stadium on 19 April, losing 12-32. ^{[4] [5]} The squad was Josh Hoffman, Sam Perrett, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Dean Whare, Jason Nightingale, Kieran Foran (c), Shaun Johnson, Jesse Bromwich, Issac Luke, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Frank Pritchard, Kevin Proctor, Alex Glenn, Bench: Elijah Taylor, Sam McKendry, Ben Matulino, Tohu Harris. Captain Simon Mannering was ruled out on the day of the test, with Glenn replacing him in the starting side and Harris joining the bench. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was the reserve. ^{[6] [7]}

Benji Marshall signed for rugby union franchise the Blues in August, making him unavailable for the Kiwis World Cup squad. Sonny Bill Williams also declared himself unavailable for the World Cup.

During the 2013 NRL Grand Final, Shaun Kenny-Dowall was injured and was subsequently ruled out of the World Cup.

Following the naming of the squad, Sonny Bill Williams declared that he would be available for the tournament. After deliberation, he was added to the squad at the expense of Tohu Harris. ^[8] Harris declined the offer to travel with the squad as a travelling reserve.

The Kiwis assembled in Narrabeen, Sydney for a two-day training camp before flying to the United Kingdom.

Staff

• Head Coach: Stephen Kearney
• Assistant Coach: Tony Iro

The national selectors were Richie Barnett, Ivan Cleary, Stephen Kearney and Tawera Nikau, with Tony Iro serving as the convenor of selectors. ^[9]

Squad

See also: 2013 Rugby League World Cup squads

Train-on squad

An initial training squad was named on 11 September 2015 and added to as teams were eliminated from the NRL finals. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Brisbane Broncos: Alex Glenn, Josh Hoffman

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs: Greg Eastwood, Krisnan Inu, Sam Kasiano, Sam Perrett, Frank Pritchard

Melbourne Storm: Jesse Bromwich, Tohu Harris, Kevin Proctor

North Queensland Cowboys: Jason Taumalolo, Antonio Winterstein

St George Illawarra Dragons: Bronson Harrison, Jason Nightingale

Penrith Panthers: Lewis Brown, Sam McKendry, Dean Whare

New Zealand Warriors: Shaun Johnson, Thomas Leuluai, Kevin Locke, Simon Mannering, Ben Matulino, Sam Rapira, Elijah Taylor, Manu Vatuvei

Wests Tigers: Adam Blair, Tim Simona

Unavailable: Gerard Beale, Benji Marshall

Final squad

Player	Games	Tries	Goals	Field-goals	Points	Position	Club
Josh Hoffman	2	1	0	0	4	FB	Brisbane Broncos
Kevin Locke	4	0	0	0	0	FB	New Zealand Warriors
Jason Nightingale	2	0	0	0	0	WG	St George Illawarra Dragons
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck	6	8	0	0	32	WG	Sydney Roosters
Manu Vatuvei	4	4	0	0	16	WG	New Zealand Warriors
Bryson Goodwin	6	4	0	0	16	CE	South Sydney Rabbitohs
Krisnan Inu	1	1	0	0	4	CE	Canterbury Bulldogs
Dean Whare	5	2	0	0	8	CE	Penrith Panthers
Kieran Foran (vice-captain)	6	0	0	0	0	SO	Manly Sea Eagles
Thomas Leuluai	1	0	0	0	0	HB	New Zealand Warriors
Shaun Johnson	6	4	30	0	76	HB	New Zealand Warriors
Jesse Bromwich	5	1	0	0	4	PR	Melbourne Storm
Sam Kasiano	5	0	0	0	0	PR	Canterbury Bulldogs
Sam Moa	3	0	0	0	0	PR	Sydney Roosters
Ben Matulino	5	0	0	0	0	PR	New Zealand Warriors
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves	5	0	0	0	0	PR	Sydney Roosters
Isaac Luke	6	1	0	0	4	HK	South Sydney Rabbitohs
Greg Eastwood	1	1	0	0	4	SR	Canterbury Bulldogs
Alex Glenn	4	0	0	0	0	SR	Brisbane Broncos
Simon Mannering (captain)	5	2	0	0	8	SR	New Zealand Warriors
Frank Pritchard	3	1	0	0	4	SR	Canterbury Bulldogs
Sonny Bill Williams	5	3	0	0	12	SR	Sydney Roosters
Frank-Paul Nu'uausala	6	3	0	0	12	LF	Sydney Roosters
Elijah Taylor	6	1	0	0	4	LF	New Zealand Warriors

Fixtures

Warm up match

See also: 2013 New Zealand rugby league season

New Zealand played a warm up match against the Cook Islands on 20 October in Doncaster. The match was played with unlimited interchange and as a result was not regarded as a test match. It was Simon Mannering's first match as Kiwis captain. The halftime score was 24-0.

20 October 2013

New Zealand	50–0	Cook Islands
Tries: Jason Nightingale (2), Bryson Goodwin (2), Elijah Taylor, Manu Vatuvei, Shaun Johnson, Kevin Locke Goals: Shaun Johnson (4), Bryson Goodwin (2), Kevin Locke (1)	[12]

Doncaster

1 Josh Hoffman, 2 Jason Nightingale, 3 Krisnan Inu, 4 Dean Whare, 5 Manu Vatuvei, 6 Kieran Foran, 7 Shaun Johnson, 8 Jesse Bromwich, 9 Issac Luke, 10 Sam Kasiano, 11 Frank Pritchard, 12 Simon Mannering (c), 13 Elijah Taylor. Interchange: 14 Greg Eastwood, 15 Ben Matulino, 16 Alex Glenn, 17 Kevin Locke, 18 Bryson Goodwin, 19 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

World Cup Pool B

See also: 2013 Rugby League World Cup Group B

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	Pts
New Zealand	3	3	0	0	26	146	34	+112	6
Samoa	3	2	0	1	14	84	52	+32	4
France	3	1	0	2	2	15	78	–63	2
Papua New Guinea	3	0	0	3	5	22	103	–81	0

Samoa

27 October 2013 18:00

New Zealand	42–24	Samoa
Try: Hoffman 11' c Mannering (2) 15' c, 22' c Tuivasa-Sheck 17' m Vatuvei (3) 43' m, 49' m, 73' c Luke 45' c Goal: Johnson (5/8) 10', 15', 23', 46', 73'	Report [usurped]	Try: Roberts 39' m Leilua 52' m Manumalealii 57' m Matagi 60' c A. Winterstein 65' c Goal: Milford (2/5) 61', 65'

Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington Attendance: 14,965 Referee: Richard Silverwood (England) Player of the Match: Dean Whare (New Zealand)

FB 1 Josh Hoffman RW 2 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck RC 3 Dean Whare LC 4 Bryson Goodwin LW 5 Manu Vatuvei SO 6 Kieran Foran SH 7 Shaun Johnson PR 8 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves HK 9 Isaac Luke PR 10 Jesse Bromwich SR 11 Frank Pritchard SR 12 Sonny Bill Williams LF 13 Simon Mannering (c) Substitutions: IC 14 Elijah Taylor IC 15 Sam Kasiano IC 16 Sam Moa IC 17 Frank-Paul Nu'uausala Coach: Stephen Kearney

FB 1 Anthony Milford RW 2 Antonio Winterstein RC 3 Junior Sa'u LC 4 Joseph Leilua LW 5 Daniel Vidot SO 6 Reni Maitua SH 7 Ben Roberts PR 8 David Fa’alogo HK 9 Pita Godinet PR 10 Suaia Matagi SR 11 Iosia Soliola (c) SR 12 Frank Winterstein LF 13 Sauaso Sue Substitutions: IC 14 Penani Manumalealii IC 15 Leeson Ah Mau IC 16 Mark Taufua IC 17 Mose Masoe Coach: Matt Parish

Touch Judges: Tim Roby (England) Joe Cobb (England) Video Referee: Thierry Alibert (France)

France

1 November 2013 20:00

New Zealand	48–0	France
Try: Inu 6' c Goodwin 24' c Nu'uausala (2) 39' c, 75' c Johnson (2) 51' c, 55' c Eastwood 65' c Tuivasa-Sheck 80' c Goal: Johnson (8/8) 7', 26', 39', 51', 56', 66', 76', 80'	Report [usurped]

Parc des Sports, Avignon Attendance: 17,518 Referee: Phil Bentham (England) Player of the Match: Shaun Johnson (New Zealand)

FB 1 Kevin Locke RW 2 Jason Nightingale RC 3 Bryson Goodwin LC 4 Krisnan Inu LW 5 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck SO 6 Kieran Foran SH 7 Shaun Johnson PR 8 Ben Matulino HK 9 Isaac Luke PR 10 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves SR 11 Frank Pritchard SR 12 Alex Glenn LF 13 Simon Mannering (c) Substitutes IC 14 Elijah Taylor IC 15 Sam Kasiano IC 16 Frank-Paul Nu'uausala IC 17 Greg Eastwood Coach: Stephen Kearney

FB 1 Morgan Escaré RW 2 Frédéric Vaccari RC 3 Jean-Philippe Baile LC 4 Vincent Duport LW 5 Cyril Stacul SO 6 Thomas Bosc SH 7 Theo Fages PR 8 Olivier Elima (c) HK 9 Kane Bentley PR 10 Rémi Casty SR 11 Kevin Larroyer SR 12 Sébastien Raguin LF 13 Andrew Bentley Substitutes IC 14 Gregory Mounis IC 15 Jamal Fakir IC 16 Benjamin Garcia IC 17 Michael Simon Coach: Richard Agar

Touch Judges: Grant Atkins (Australia) Robert Hicks (England) Video Referee: Shayne Hayne (Australia)

Papua New Guinea

8 November 2013 20:00

New Zealand	56–10	Papua New Guinea
Try: Goodwin 4' c Tuivasa-Sheck (2) 7' c, 11' c Williams (3) 15' c, 27' c, 40' c Nu'uausala 30' m Whare (2) 50' c, 56' c Taylor 67' m Goal: Johnson (8/10) 4', 8', 12', 16', 28', 40', 51', 58'	Report [usurped]	Try: Aiye 41' c Albert 78' m Goal: Paniu (1/2) 43'

Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 18,180 Referee: Ashley Klein (Australia) Player of the Match: Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand)

FB 1 Josh Hoffman RW 2 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck RC 3 Dean Whare LC 4 Bryson Goodwin LW 5 Manu Vatuvei SO 6 Kieran Foran SH 7 Shaun Johnson PR 8 Ben Matulino HK 9 Isaac Luke PR 10 Jesse Bromwich SR 11 Alex Glenn SR 12 Sonny Bill Williams LF 13 Elijah Taylor Substitutes IC 14 Sam Moa IC 15 Sam Kasiano IC 16 Frank-Paul Nu'uausala IC 17 Thomas Leuluai Coach: Stephen Kearney

FB 1 David Mead RW 2 Josiah Abavu RC 3 Menzie Yere LC 4 Francis Paniu LW 5 Nene MacDonald SO 6 Ray Thompson SH 7 Dion Aiye PR 8 Neville Costigan HK 9 Charlie Wabo PR 10 Joe Bruno SR 11 Jessie Joe Nandye SR 12 Jason Chan LF 13 Sebastian Pandia Substitutes IC 14 Wellington Albert IC 15 Paul Aiton IC 16 Jason Tali IC 17 Mark Mexico Coach: Adrian Lam

Touch Judges: Jose Pereira (France) Robert Hicks (England) Video Referee: Richard Silverwood (England)

The 18,180 attendance was higher than all but one of Leeds Rhinos' home Super League attendances for 2013. ^[13]

Quarter-final

See also: 2013 Rugby League World Cup knockout stage

15 November 2013 20:00

New Zealand	40–4	Scotland
Try: Goodwin (2) 8' m, 71' m Bromwich 15' c Tuivasa-Sheck (2) 20' m, 50' c Pritchard 27' c Johnson 30' c Vatuvei 58' m Goal: Johnson (4/8) 17, 28', 31', 51'	Report [usurped]	Try: Hurst 67' m Goal: Brough (0/1)

Headingley Carnegie Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 16,207 Referee: Ben Cummins (Australia) Player of the Match: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (New Zealand)

FB 1 Kevin Locke RW 2 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck RC 3 Dean Whare LC 4 Bryson Goodwin LW 5 Manu Vatuvei SO 6 Kieran Foran SH 7 Shaun Johnson PR 8 Ben Matulino HK 9 Isaac Luke PR 10 Jesse Bromwich SR 11 Frank Pritchard SR 12 Sonny Bill Williams LF 13 Simon Mannering (c) Substitutions: IC 14 Elijah Taylor IC 15 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves IC 16 Frank-Paul Nu'uausala IC 17 Sam Moa Coach: Stephen Kearney

FB 1 Matty Russell RW 2 David Scott RC 3 Ben Hellewell LC 4 Kane Linnett LW 5 Alex Hurst SO 6 Danny Brough (c) SH 7 Peter Wallace PR 8 Adam Walker HK 9 Ian Henderson PR 10 Luke Douglas SR 11 Danny Addy SR 12 Brett Phillips LF 13 Ben Kavanagh Substitutions: IC 14 Andrew Henderson IC 15 Oliver Wilkes IC 16 Alex Szostak IC 17 Sam Barlow Coach: Steve McCormack

Touch Judges: Jamal Thompson (New Zealand) obert Hicks (New Zealand) Video Referee: Shayne Hayne (Australia)

Semi-final

New Zealand won the match when Shaun Johnson scored a try with 20 seconds remaining. ^[14]

23 November 2013 13:00

New Zealand	20–18	England
Try: Tuivasa-Sheck (2) 31' c, 44' m Johnson 80' c Goal: Johnson (4/5) 33', 38', 53' 80'	Report [usurped]	Try: O'Loughlin 16' c Watkins 58' m S. Burgess 67' c Goal: Sinfield (3/4) 17', 25', 68'

Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 67,545 Referee: Ben Cummins (Australia) Player of the Match: Sam Burgess

FB 1 Kevin Locke RW 2 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck RC 3 Dean Whare LC 4 Bryson Goodwin LW 5 Jason Nightingale SO 6 Kieran Foran SH 7 Shaun Johnson PR 8 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves HK 9 Isaac Luke PR 10 Jesse Bromwich SR 11 Sonny Bill Williams SR 12 Simon Mannering (c) LF 13 Elijah Taylor Substitutions: IC 14 Frank-Paul Nu'uausala IC 15 Sam Kasiano IC 16 Ben Matulino IC 17 Alex Glenn Coach: Stephen Kearney

FB 1 Sam Tomkins RW 2 Josh Charnley RC 3 Kallum Watkins LC 4 Leroy Cudjoe LW 5 Ryan Hall SO 6 Gareth Widdop SH 7 Kevin Sinfield (c) PR 8 James Graham HK 9 James Roby PR 10 Sam Burgess SR 11 Brett Ferres SR 12 Ben Westwood LF 13 Sean O'Loughlin Substitutions: IC 14 Rob Burrow IC 15 George Burgess IC 16 Chris Hill IC 17 Carl Ablett Coach: Steve McNamara

Touch Judges:
James Child (England)
Grant Atkins (Australia)
Video Referee:
Ashley Klein (Australia)

Final

Main article: 2013 Rugby League World Cup final

30 November 2013 14:30

New Zealand	2–34	Australia
Tries: Goals: Shaun Johnson (1/1) 16'	Report [usurped]	Tries: Billy Slater (2) 19' c, 41' c Cooper Cronk 30' c Brett Morris (2) 52' c, 72' c Goals: Johnathan Thurston (7/7) 4', 19', 30', 35', 41', 52', 72'

Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 74,468 [15] Referee: Richard Silverwood Player of the Match: Johnathan Thurston

New Zealand

Australia

FB 1 Kevin Locke RW 2 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck RC 3 Dean Whare LC 4 Bryson Goodwin LW 5 Manu Vatuvei SO 6 Kieran Foran SH 7 Shaun Johnson PR 8 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves HK 9 Isaac Luke PR 10 Jesse Bromwich SR 11 Simon Mannering (c) SR 12 Sonny Bill Williams LF 13 Elijah Taylor Substitutions: IC 14 Frank-Paul Nu'uausala IC 15 Sam Kasiano IC 16 Ben Matulino IC 17 Alex Glenn Coach: Stephen Kearney

FB 1 Billy Slater RW 2 Brett Morris RC 3 Greg Inglis LC 4 Jarryd Hayne LW 5 Darius Boyd SO 6 Johnathan Thurston SH 7 Cooper Cronk PR 8 Matt Scott HK 9 Cameron Smith (c) PR 10 James Tamou SR 11 Greg Bird SR 12 Sam Thaiday LF 13 Paul Gallen Substitutions: IC 14 Daly Cherry-Evans IC 15 Josh Papalii IC 16 Andrew Fifita IC 17 Corey Parker Coach: Tim Sheens

Touch Judges:

• James Child (England)
• Grant Atkins (Australia)

Video Referee:

• Ashley Klein (Australia)

Aftermath

During the tournament several players were accused of mixing sleeping pills with energy drinks to help their recovery. While not illegal, concerns were raised by New Zealand support staff. ^{[16] [17]} Sonny Bill Williams and Kieran Foran were named as two of the players involved. ^[18] The All Blacks had a similar problem at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. ^[19] The National Rugby League set up a taskforce in response to the issue, with NZRL represented by high performance manager Tony Iro. ^[20]

The NZRL's player of the year was Kieran Foran. ^[21]

Following a post campaign review, the NZRL re-appointed Stephen Kearney for two more years, with an option to renew the contract until the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. ^[20]

References

1. Base camp before league summit ascent New Zealand Herald, 20 January 2013
2. New Zealand drop Marshall as World Cup captain ^{[ dead link ]}AFP, 27 February 2013
3. Benji Marshall stripped of Kiwis captaincy stuff.co.nz, 28 February 2013
4. Canberra to host 2013 Anzac league test stuff.co.nz, 15 August 2012
5. Luckless Kiwis bemoan video ref rulings stuff.co.nz, 20 April 2013
6. Foran looks to brain not brawn to defeat rivals New Zealand Herald, 19 April 2013
7. Kiwis captain Mannering out of Anzac test stuff.co.nz, 19 April 2013
8. Sonny Bill Williams added to Kiwis squad nzrl.co.nz
9. "Third announcement of Kiwis RLWC train-on squad".
10. "First Kiwis RLWC train-on squad named".
11. "Second Announcement of Kiwis RLWC Train-On Squad".
12. "Kiwis carve up the Cooks". Stuff.
13. Smith, Peter (4 December 2013). "RLWC2013: Tournament raises RL's world standing" . Retrieved 4 December 2013.
14. James Riach (23 November 2013). "New Zealand 20-18 England - Rugby League World Cup semi-final report". the Guardian. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
15. Fitzgibbon, Liam (1 December 2013). "Clinical Kangaroos crowned World Champions". 3News. Archived from the original on 1 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
16. "Rugby league to investigate Kiwis' use of pills". Stuff. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
17. "Kiwis look into possible prescription drug misuse at World Cup". the Guardian. 28 December 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
18. "Cup scandal erupts: Sonny Bill Williams and Kieran Foran under investigation for mixing pills and drinks". Daily Telegraph. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
19. "All Blacks in 'silly' sleeping pill antics at World Cup". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
20. "Stephen Kearney re-appointed as Kiwis coach". stuff.co.nz. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
21. Fairfax (10 December 2013). "Kieran Foran named NZRL player of the year". stuff.co.nz . Retrieved 10 December 2013.