# 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.
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.
The New Zealand Kiwis played the annual ANZAC test against Australia at Canberra Stadium on 19 April, losing 12-32. 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.
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. 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.

## Squad
### Train-on squad

An initial training squad was named on 11 September 2015 and added to as teams were eliminated from the NRL finals.
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

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) | | |
* 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

| Teamvte | 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 | 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 | |
* 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 ||
* Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Zealand v France RLWC, 1 Nov 2013.
* 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 | 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.

### Quarter-final

* 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 | 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.
* 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 | 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

* 30 November 2013 14:30
| New Zealand | 2–34 | Australia |
| Tries: Goals: Shaun Johnson (1/1) 16' | Report | 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 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. Sonny Bill Williams and Kieran Foran were named as two of the players involved. The All Blacks had a similar problem at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The National Rugby League set up a taskforce in response to the issue, with NZRL represented by high performance manager Tony Iro.
The NZRL's player of the year was Kieran Foran.
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.