The 2026 Rugby League World Cup has provided the stage for some of the most memorable Test entries of the modern era, headlined by Kiwis duo Kalyn Ponga and Tanner Stowers-Smith, and Kangaroos winger Jack Bostock.
We’ve trawled through the international archives to relive some of the finest Test debuts of all time.
Benny Wearing (1928)
One of the greatest wingers in the game’s history – scoring 144 tries in 172 games from 1921-33 for the dominant South Sydney club – Wearing was selected for just one Test match in one of representative rugby league’s great mysteries and injustices.
After scoring nine tries in 13 interstate appearances for NSW, Wearing was belatedly called into the Australian side for the dead-rubber third Test against the 1928 Lions, after the hosts had gone down in the first two encounters.
He scored two tries and kicked three goals in Australia’s 21-14 success at the SCG. But despite his match-winning turn, Wearing was left out of the 1929-30 Kangaroo Tour squad and never represented his country again.
Lionel Cooper (1946)
Breaking into Easts’ first grade team in their 1945 premiership-winning season, winger Cooper was selected in Australia’s first post-WWII team the following season. He scored a famous 70-metre try late in the series opener against England to salvage an 8-all draw at the SCG.
Cooper was named Player of the Year in 1946 but was lured to England at the end of the season, playing out his career at Huddersfield – including more than 400 tries, a haul of 71 in the 1951-52 season and a record 10 tries in a match.
Norm Provan (1954)
Future Immortal Provan was just 21 when he was drafted into the Australian team for the home Ashes series opener. The towering second-rower scored a try and had a hand in several other on debut, a 37-12 thrashing of Great Britain at the SCG.
Provan went on to make 18 Test appearances, while his 10 successive grand final victories for St George (the last four as captain-coach) enshrined his name in the fabric of rugby league history.
Don Adams (1956)
Plucked from Maitland to make his Test debut in the 1956 series opener against New Zealand, winger ‘Bandy’ Adams produced a match-winning turn in his first appearance in the green and gold.
The renowned speedster scored two tries, including the deadlock-breaker in a narrow 12-9 win at the SCG. Adams bagged a hat-trick as Australia completed a 3-0 cleansweep three weeks later.
Bobby Bugden (1960)
St George halfback Bugden was an integral part of the first half of the club’s 11-year premiership run, winning six Grand Finals from 1956-61.
Bugden was chosen to tour with the 1959-60 Kangaroos, but he played second-fiddle to Queenslander Barry Muir, who played all six Tests on tour. Bugden flourished when he was eventually picked to make his Test debut against France in 1960, however, scoring three tries in a 56-6 rout in Brisbane.
Bugden scored another try two weeks later at the SCG as Australia wrapped up the series, which was to be his only other Test appearance.
Wayne Pearce (1982)
Balmain lock Pearce was squeezed into the Australian line-up in the second-row for the opening Test of the 1982 Ashes series and claimed man of the match honours on debut, with a runaway try capping a stellar performance in a 40-4 demolition at Hull.
‘Junior’ went on to play 19 Tests for Australia.
Eric Grothe (1982)
Pearce wasn’t the only newcomer to terrorise the Brits in that series opener for ‘The Invincibles’, who ultimately created history by going through the tour undefeated.
Powerhouse Parramatta winger Grothe pounced on an error to score a barnstorming try and made a series of irresistible bursts on Test debut. ‘Guru’ would score in all eight of his Test appearances for Australia.
Kevin Iro (1987)
The Kiwis entered a new era in 1987 after the controversial sacking of coach Graham Lowe – and they unearthed a budding superstar in the shape of 19-year-old centre Iro.
The strapping Aucklander scored three tries and four goals for a 20-point haul as New Zealand outlasted Papua New Guinea 36-22 in Port Moresby.
Iro played a key role in the Kiwis’ shock win over Australia nine days later on his way to becoming one of his nation’s greatest-ever players, scoring 16 tries in 34 Tests.
Allan Langer (1988)
After playing a commanding role in Queensland’s 1987-88 Origin series victories, pint-sized halfback Langer was called into the Australian side for a one-off Test against Papua New Guinea in Wagga Wagga with incumbent Peter Sterling unavailable.
The Broncos live-wire scored two tries and was named man of the match on debut in a 70-8 victory – the start of a green-and-gold tenure that featured 25 Tests and extended until 1999.
Brad Mackay (1990)
Like fellow Dragon Bobby Bugden three decades earlier, the versatile Brad Mackay scored a hat-trick on Test debut against France. The 1989-90 NSW rep was a late inclusion in place of injured lock Bradley Clyde for the one-off Test against the touring French side at Parkes in 1990.
After grabbing the treble, Mackay starred on the ensuing Kangaroo Tour at the end of the year and finished his career with six tries from 12 appearances.
Jason Robinson (1993)
Great Britain laid the foundation for a 3-0 whitewash of the touring Kiwis in the 1993 series opener at Wembley – and 19-year-old winger Jason Robinson was the undisputed star of the 17-0 shutout.
The Wigan phenom scored a dazzling first-half double, showcasing his electric pace and rare finishing nous. Robinson went on to play 19 Tests for Great Britain and England, before switching codes and becoming a World Cup winner for the England rugby union side.
Andrew Johns (1995)
Newcastle halfback Johns equalled the record for most points in a Test in his very first outing for Australia, scoring two tries and kicking 11 goals in an 86-6 demolition of South Africa at Gateshead in the 1995 World Cup.
The 21-year-old then took the tournament by storm after switching to hooker in a novel selection ploy from coach Bob Fulton, helping spearhead an Australian side depleted by the Super League war to a memorable World Cup triumph.
‘Joey’, later inducted as the eighth Immortal, played 25 Tests for Australia – the last in 2006.
Brian Jellick (1999)
After plugging away on the New Zealand domestic scene for year and failing attract the attention of the Warriors, joining North Queensland in 1999 proved the catalyst for Jellick getting a Kiwis call-up.
The winger was chosen in Frank Endacott’s Tri Nations squad at the end of that season and debuted in a non-tournament clash with Tonga, crossing for four tries in a 74-0 rout. He was overlooked for the Kiwis’ other matches but later dotted down in both his appearances at the 2000 World Cup.
Benji Marshall (2005)
The 2005 Anzac Test wasn’t particularly memorable – especially for the Kiwis, who went down 32-16 in Newcastle – but the performance of New Zealand’s debutant five-eighth Marshall was a notable takeaway.
A veteran of just 15 NRL games, the hot-stepping Tigers wizard showed no signs of being overawed lining up opposite Australian captain Darren Lockyer (who himself endured arguably the worst Test debut of all time in 1998) and was the fulcrum of most of the Kiwis’ positive play in a convincing loss.
By the end of the year Marshall was a grand final hero, while he amassed 31 Test appearances for New Zealand and captained his country.
Israel Folau (2007)
Elevated from the Junior Kangaroos side to the Australian Test line-up following an injury, Melbourne rookie Folau became his country’s youngest-ever player when featured on the flank in a 58-0 post-season shellacking of New Zealand in 2007.
The 18-year-old scored two tries in the Wellington-hosted match – the first of eight Tests for Australia before switching codes to AFL and later rugby union at the end of 2010. Jarryd Hayne, Brett Stewart and Greg Bird also grabbed debut four-pointers in the same match.
Sam Burgess (2007)
After getting torched by Folau, the Kiwis encountered another 18-year-old phenom a few weeks later in the form of Bradford prop Burgess.
The rampaging tyro scored a try in a devastating debut for Great Britain in a 20-14 series-opening win at Huddersfield. Later a superstar at Souths, Burgess would make 26 Test appearances for Great Britain and England, as well representing the latter in rugby union.
Casey McLean (2024)
Losses to Australia and Tonga saw New Zealand’s 2024 defence of its Pacific Championships title conclude with promotion/relegation match against Papua New Guinea – but it did allow the Kiwis to blood 18-year-old Penrith three-quarter Casey McLean.
With only seven NRL games under his belt, McLean blazed in for four tries in a dream Test debut in a 54-12 win over the Kumuls. The World Cup gun has scored all six of his appearances for the Kiwis to date for a total of 11 Test tries.
Reece Walsh (2025)
Less than three weeks on from producing arguably the greatest individual display in grand final history, Broncos fullback Walsh lit up the international stage on debut for Australia.
Walsh was a cut above in the Kangaroos’ 26-6 Ashes-opening defeat of England at Wembley, scoring two tries, producing two line-break assists and running for a game-high 243 metres.
Kalyn Ponga (2026)
Injuries and the presence of all-time great fullbacks such as James Tedesco prevented Ponga from debuting for Australia, but those obstacles and an international eligibility rule change allowed the Newcastle and Queensland superstar to switch allegiances to New Zealand for this year’s World Cup.
Ponga’s belated Test debut at the age of 28 was one to savour, scoring two tries and running for a game-high 254 metres in the Kiwis’ pulsating tournament-opening loss to the Kangaroos – despite suffering a broken arm midway through the second half and eventually exiting with 10 minutes left.
Jack Bostock (2026)
On the other side of the trans-Tasman tunnel as the 2026 RLWC got underway, Australian winger Bostock made an equally stunning entry into Test footy.
The tall Dolphins flyer scored a length-of-the-filed intercept in the first half to put the under-the-pump Kangaroos on the board, while he climbed over clubmate Jamayne Isaako twice in the second half to complete an incredible hat-trick – including the match-winning try in the dying minutes.
Tanner Stowers-Smith (2026)
Something of a bolter in a stacked Kiwis World Cup squad, the stars aligned for Warriors prop Tanner Stowers-Smith to make his Test debut in his home city of Christchurch last Sunday.
The 22-year-old truly turned the milestone into a fairytale, scoring two barnstorming tries – despite being yet to grab a four-pointer at NRL level – and racking up 177 metres on 20 carries with seven tackle-breaks.