1976 World Club Challenge

Intercontinental rugby league match June 2020 1976 Unofficial World Club Challenge File:Sydney Showground and Cricket Ground 1936 (14019783946).jpg 250px Sydney Cricket Ground hosted the match Eastern Suburbs St. Helens NSWRFL RFL EAS Eastern Suburbs 16 ST H St Helens 16 25 2 29 June 1976 Sydney Cricket Ground Moore Park, Australia Man of the Match Royce Ayliffe Eastern Suburbs 16 Gary Cook AUS 26,856 ATN 7 AUS Rex Mossop Barry Ross World Club Challenge 1987 The 1976 World Club Challenge was an unofficial trial of what would later become the World Club Challenge concept, with the 1975 NSWRFL season's premiers, Eastern Suburbs hosting the 1975–76 Northern Rugby Football League season's Premiership and Challenge Cup winners St. Helens. The one-off challenge match was played on 29 June, right in the middle of the 1976 NSWRFL season, at the Sydney Cricket Ground before a crowd of 26,856.September 2026 The next game of its kind would not be played until 1987. Background The game was the first of its type, and was the last to be played in Australia until 1994. Eastern Suburbs Roosters The Roosters, coached by Jack Gibson and captained by Australian international forward Arthur Beetson, were the reigning Sydney premiers having won the NSWRFL Grand Finals in both 1974 and 1975.June 2020 St Helens Saints were the reigning English champions, having won the title in 1974-75. Saints were coached by former Great Britain captain Eric Ashton and captained by Welsh dual rugby international Kel Coslett.June 2020 Teams _easts _red_midband_color 000080 00008B 000080 FFFFFF 00008B Eastern Suburbs _redborder _Vwidered _redborder _band_red FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF St Helens FB 1Russell FairfaxLW 2Ian SchubertCE 3Mark HarrisCE 4John BrassRW 5Bill MullinsFE 8Trevor BarnesHB 7Kevin StevensLK 9Barry ReillySR 11Arthur Beetson (c)SR 16Ian MackayPR 13Royce AyliffeHK 12Elwyn WaltersPR 10Kel JonesSubstitutions:IC 6Robert LaurieIC 20Johnny MayesIC 21Grant HedgerIC 14Greg TownsendCoach:AUS Jack Gibson FB 1Geoff PimblettRW 2Les JonesCE 3Eddie CunninghamCE 4Derek NoonanLW 5Roy MathiasSO 6Billy BenyonSH 16Kenneth GwilliamPR 8John MantleHK 9Tony KaraliusPR 10Kel Coslett (c)SR 11Eric ChisnallSR 12George NichollsLF 13David HullSubstitutions:IC 14Peter GlynnIC 15Frank WilsonIC 7Jeff HeatonIC 17Mel JamesCoach:ENG Eric Ashton Match details #eeeeee 29 June 1976 25 – 2 Eastern Suburbs Roosters Sydney 16 St Helens 16 St. Helens Tries: Russell Fairfax Kevin Stevens Royce Ayliffe Ian Schubert Greg Townsend Goals: John Brass (5) Tries: Goals: Pimblett (1) Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 26,856 Gary Cook AUS Royce Ayliffe Sydney 16 Aftermath After winning the 1974 and 1975 Sydney premierships, Eastern Suburbs would not win another until 2002, while St Helens would go on to win a third English premiership in succession in 1976–77. The next time Easts, now known as the Sydney Roosters, would play in a World Club Challenge was in 2003 where they would again face St Helens, the 2002 Super League champions at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, England. The result would be no different though as the Roosters defeated the Saints 38-0 in front of 19,807 fans. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the challenge, St Helens and the Sydney Roosters played a match as part of the 2016 World Club Series.Clubs confirmed for 2016 World Club Series https://web.archive.org/web/20151009170125/http://www.superleague.co.uk/article/33177/clubs-confirmed-for-2016-world 9 October 2015 , superleague.co.uk, 8 October 2015 See also World Club Challenge References External links 1976 World Club Challenge at superleague.co.uk 1976 World Club Challenge at rugbyleagueproject.com 1976 Category:Sydney Roosters matches Category:St Helens R.F.C. matches Category:International rugby league competitions hosted by Australia Category:Rugby league in Sydney Category:1976 in Australian rugby league Category:1976 rugby league matches Category:Sydney Cricket Ground