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.

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.

[citation needed] Saints were the reigning English champions, having won the title in 1974-75.

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.

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.