TheBreakdown
Men's Rugby World Cup 1987 · Ballymore, Brisbane | Meeanjin · 31 May 1987Head-to-head
Full-time reportFull time
Australia won by 35 points.Half-time 21–3 · Tries 8–1

Pitch map

Layers

Swipe the pitch sideways to see it full size.

82541445357666981
Totals only: no positions in the feed
Tacklesmademissed
AUS346
USA8942
Kicks at goalconv.pensdrops
AUS6/81/10
USA1/11/11
← USA attack · Australia attack →Hover a try for detail · dots = tackles made · dashed = penalty goal · orange = missed · squares = rucks · triangles = line breaks and defenders beaten · rings = turnovers · bars at the foot = zone counts · thin lines = kicks from hand = attacking entries and ball won per band
  • Territory is not in the feed for this match.
  • Zone counts are not in the feed for this match.
  • Tackle positions are not in the feed for this match.
  • Kick positions are not in the feed for this match.
  • Ruck, line break, turnover, lineout and kick-from-hand positions are not in the feed for this match.
  • Tries with a dashed ring have no recorded position, so they sit in the in-goal at the end that side attacked.
Tries and goal kicks as a table
MinTeamWhatScore
8′AustraliaTry, converted7–0
25′AustraliaTry, Brian Smith, converted13–0
41′AustraliaTry, Andy Slack, converted19–3
44′AustraliaTry, Andrew Leeds, conversion missed25–3
53′USATry, Ray Nelson, converted25–7
57′AustraliaTry, Brett Papworth, converted29–9
66′AustraliaTry, David Campese, conversion missed35–9
69′AustraliaTry, David Codey, converted39–9
81′AustraliaTry, Andrew Leeds, converted45–12
Sample dataTerritory shares are estimated, and tries without a recorded position are placed in the in-goal. Other positions are as logged by the match feed and approximate.

Score progression

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013253850HT0′20′40′60′80′
8′AUS25′Brian Smith41′Andy Slack44′Andrew Leeds53′Ray Nelson57′Brett Papworth66′David Campese69′David Codey81′Andrew Leeds
AUS

Team stats

USA
89%Possession11%
141Carries61
753Metres gained312
23Clean breaks5
42Defenders beaten6
220Passes79
27Offloads10
34Tackles made89
6Tackles missed42
33/42Rucks won21/22
21/32Lineouts won8/15
17/19Scrums won10/17
19/21Mauls won7/8
9Penalties conceded18
40Kicks from hand66
Goal kicking
AUS conversions 6/8, penalties 1/1 · USA conversions 1/1, penalties 1/1. Pale segment = set piece lost.

Match statistics and event positions come from World Rugby’s public match feed, which is unofficial and not licensed for reuse; TheBreakdown reduces them to the figures shown. This feed has team statistics but no positions for this match.

Line-ups

Australia

  1. 1Cameron LillicrapProp
  2. 2Tommy LawtonHooker
  3. 3Andy McIntyreProp
  4. 4Troy CokerSecond row
  5. 5Bill CampbellSecond row
  6. 6David CodeyFlanker
  7. 7Jeff MillerFlanker
  8. 8Steve TuynmanNumber 8
  9. 9Brian SmithScrum-half
  10. 10Michael LynaghFly-half
  11. 11Matt BurkeWing
  12. 12Brett PapworthCentre
  13. 13Andy SlackCentre
  14. 14David CampeseWing
  15. 15Andrew LeedsFull-back
  16. 16Michael CookBench
  17. 17Stephen JamesBench
  18. 19Ross ReynoldsBench
  19. 20Mark HartillBench
  20. 21Mark McBainBench

USA

  1. 1Butch HorwathProp
  2. 2Pat JohnsonHooker
  3. 3Fred PaoliProp
  4. 4Kevin SwordsSecond row
  5. 5Bill ShifletSecond row
  6. 6Tony RidnellFlanker
  7. 7Steve FinkelFlanker
  8. 8Brian VizardNumber 8
  9. 9Dave DicksonScrum-half
  10. 10Dave HortonFly-half
  11. 11Gary HeinWing
  12. 12Tom VinickCentre
  13. 13Roy HeluCentre
  14. 14Kevin HigginsWing
  15. 15Ray NelsonFull-back
  16. 16Joe ClarksonBench
  17. 17Dennis ShanagherBench
  18. 18Mike SaundersBench
  19. 19Gary LambertBench
  20. 20Neal BrendelBench
  21. 21John EverettBench

Match officials

Sample data
Referee
Sample Referee
Assistant referee
Sample Assistant 1
Assistant referee
Sample Assistant 2
TMO
Sample TMO

Sample data Match officials is placeholder content: TheBreakdown has no data source for it yet, so nothing here is real.

Context

All-time, Australia 9–0 USA in 9 scored Tests. Full head-to-head

Australia going in
USA going in

Also on this day

Results to 27 September 2026. Scoring and line-ups come from World Rugby match summaries where available; older Tests may have neither.