1995 Rugby League Emerging Nations Tournament
# 1995 Rugby League Emerging Nations Tournament

The 1995 Rugby League Emerging Nations World Championship was held alongside the Centenary Rugby League World Cup. Although the competition received little build-up or promotion, the novelty value of the teams taking part encouraged relatively large crowds, and the competition was a success. A crowd of 4,147 was present at Gigg Lane, Bury for the final between the Cook Islands and Ireland.

## Squads

### Cook Islands

* Managers – Paul Vaetoru, Ian Wilmott
* Coaches – Paul McGreal, Nooroa Tupa

| Player | Club | Tries | Goals | Field Goals | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Turara Bates | Titikaveka Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig Bowen | Illawarra Steelers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| James Cuthers | Otahuhu Leopards | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Ali Davys | Brisbane Broncos | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tama Henry | Tupapa-Maraerenga Panthers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Hunter | Ngatangiia-Matavera Sea Eagles | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Martin Iro | Titikaveka Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lefour Jack | Tupapa-Maraerenga Panthers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Denvour Johnston | Wellington Rugby League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Alec Kermode | Ngatangiia-Matavera Sea Eagles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Lloyd Matapo | Titikaveka Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Piri Matapo | Titikaveka Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Meti Noovao | Auckland City Vulcans | 3 | 19 | 0 | 50 |
| Andrew Paitai | Tupapa-Maraerenga Panthers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Richard Piakura | Ngatangiia-Matavera Sea Eagles | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Sonny Shepherd | Ngatangiia-Matavera Sea Eagles | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Taoro Strickland | Tupapa-Maraerenga Panthers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tangimetua Tangimetua | Ngatantiia-Matavera Sea Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ngere Tariu | Tupapa-Maraerenga Panthers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Jason Temu | Oldham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tungane Tini | Tupap-Maraerenga Panthers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tiri Toa | Ngatangiia-Matavera Sea Eagles | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Allan Tuara | Tupap-Maraerenga Panthers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |

### Ireland

* Manager Mark Casham
* Coaches Niel Wood, Terry Flanagan

| Player | Club | Tries | Goals | Field Goals | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Michael Browne | Tallaght Tigers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Leo Casey | Featherstone Rovers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Sean Cleary | Dublin Blues Rugby League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phelim Comerford | Dublin Blues Rugby League | 2 | 12 | 0 | 32 |
| Martin Crompton | Oldham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Eric Doyle | Dublin Blues Rugby League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Des Foy | Oldham | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Gavin Gordon | Bangor Vikings | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Gary Grainey | Leigh Miners Welfare ARLFC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Liam Horrigan | Woolston Rovers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Seamus McCallion | Bramley RLFC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig McElhatton | Bradford Dudley Hill | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Eugene McEntaggert | Dublin Blues Rugby League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anthony Nuttall | Newsome Magpies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Conor O'Sullivan | Dublin Blues Rugby League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Paul Owens | Bradford Dudley Hill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Slicker | Halifax | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Richard Smith | Bradford Northern | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Rickey Smith | Bangor Vikings | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Bryan Smyth | Illingworth ARLFC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Topping | Oldham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Venues

The games were played at various venues in England. The Final was played at Gigg Lane in Bury.

| Bury | Castleford | Warrington | Rochdale |
| - | - | - | - |
| Gigg Lane | Wheldon Road | Wilderspool Stadium | Spotland Stadium |
| Capacity: 11,840 | Capacity: 11,775 | Capacity: 10,200 | Capacity: 9,961 |
| Leigh | Featherstone | Northampton | Dewsbury |
| Hilton Park | Post Office Road | Sixfields Stadium | Crown Flatt |
| Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 9,850 | Capacity: 7,798 | Capacity: 5,100 |

## Group stage

### Group A

| Team | Played | Won | Drew | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cook Islands | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 143 | 38 | +105 | 6 |
| Scotland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 82 | 46 | +36 | 4 |
| Russia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 57 | 118 | −61 | 2 |
| United States | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 50 | 130 | −80 | 0 |

* Cook Islands advanced to the final.
* 16 October 1995

| Cook Islands | 64–8 | United States |
| - | - | - |

* Post Office Road, Featherstone
* 16 October 1995

| Scotland | 34–9 | Russia |
| - | - | - |

* Post Office Road, Featherstone
* 18 October 1995

| Cook Islands | 58–20 | Russia |
| - | - | - |

* Hilton Park, Leigh
* 18 October 1995

| Scotland | 38–16 | United States |
| - | - | - |

* Sixfields, Northampton
* 20 October 1995

| Cook Islands | 21–10 | Scotland |
| - | - | - |

* Wheldon Road, Castleford
* 20 October 1995

| Russia | 28–26 | United States |
| - | - | - |

* Wilderspool, Warrington

### Group B

| Team | Played | Won | Drew | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ireland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 32 | +58 | 4 |
| Moldova | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 67 | -17 | 2 |
| Morocco | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 66 | −41 | 0 |

* Ireland advanced to the final.
* 16 October 1995

| Ireland | 48–26 | Moldova |
| - | - | - |

* Spotlands, Rochdale
* 18 October 1995

| Moldova | 24–19 | Morocco |
| - | - | - |

* Sixfields, Northampton
* 20 October 1995

| Ireland | 42–6 | Morocco |
| - | - | - |

* Crown Flatt, Dewsbury

## Final

* 24 October 1995

| Cook Islands | 22–6 | Ireland |
| - | - | - |
| | Summary | |

* Gigg Lane, Bury Attendance: 4,147 Referee: Dennis Hale (England) Player of the Match: Ali Davys (Cook Islands)
