The 1991
World Club Challenge (marketed as the
Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship from the brewer) was contested by
1990–91 RFL Championship winners,
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...
and
1991 NSWRL season premiers, the
Penrith Panthers. The match was played on a dry Wednesday 2 October 1991 at
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 ...
, Liverpool. A crowd of 20,152 was in attendance for the game which was refereed by Frenchman Alain Sablayrolles.
Background
Wigan
Penrith Panthers
Teams
Match details
Penrith were without their star grand final forward
Mark Geyer due to ankle injury that required surgery while
Brad Fittler was unavailable as he was part of the
Australian Kangaroos
The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian ...
team on their
end of season tour of
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
(Fittler made his test debut for Australia 4 days after the WCC).
By just the 13th minute Wigan had gotten away to a handy lead with the score at 8 - 0 after Frano Botica kicked four consecutive penalties. Penrith then answered five minutes later with an unconverted try from Darren Wills. However this was to be the last time Penrith scored in the match. Wigan's Sam Panapa got their first try in the 27th minute which was converted by Botica, bringing the scoreline to 14 - 4 which lasted until half-time.
No points were scored in the second half of the game until two thirds of the way through when Botica kicked a fifth penalty goal. David Myers scored Wigan's second try and the last of the match in the 77th minute. Just before the full-time whistle, Joe Lydon successfully kicked a field goal, adding insult to injury and making the final score Wigan 21, Penrith 4.
References
External links
1991 World Club Challenge at wigan.rlfans.com1991 World Club Challenge at superleague.co.uk
{{1991 in rugby league
World Club Challenge
Penrith Panthers matches
Wigan Warriors matches
World Club Challenge
World Club Challenge