Australia Crush Samoa To Reach Final

The Final: Australia vs New Zealand, Sunday, November 15, 2026, at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 7:35 p.m. AEDT (3:35 a.m. ET in Toronto)

Australia vs Samoa Result: Five Tries Before Half-Time

The Australia vs Samoa result was settled in the first half. Samoa struck first, Stephen Crichton landing a penalty in the opening minutes after their Siva Tau ended forehead to forehead with the Australian line, but the lead did not last. The NRL’s official match report records how Tom Dearden opened the scoring from a scrum play, Jacob Preston crashed over under the posts on 15 minutes, and Tom Trbojevic scored ten minutes later, his eighth try of the tournament, which keeps him as its joint-leading try scorer.

Samoa thought they had cut the gap when Francis Manuleleua beat Walsh to a high ball and Crichton grounded it, but the replay showed a knock-on and the try was wiped off. Australia punished the reprieve immediately: Walsh finished a left-side shift and celebrated with a backflip, Bradman Best bounced into the corner, and prop Spencer Leniu was sin-binned for dissent just before the break with the score already 26-2 in front of 41,259 fans. Try after try had followed a set restart or a penalty Samoa gave away, a pattern that never broke all night.

Walsh Gives One Away, Then Takes The Game Back

Walsh’s night swung both ways early in the second half. His dropped bomb handed Crichton Samoa’s first try, and three minutes later he powered through Crichton himself off a short Harry Grant ball for his second. When Izack Tago scored in the left corner with 18 minutes left, Walsh answered again, backing up a Cameron Munster break to complete his hat-trick in the 66th minute, then playing his part in the move that sent Jack Bostock over for his seventh try of the tournament. Munster kicked six goals, and BBC Sport named Preston its player of the match for his industry on the left edge.

Coach Kevin Walters had kept Walsh and halfback Dearden in the starting side ahead of James Tedesco and Sam Walker, and the performance vindicated both calls. Walters told the post-match press conference he was “pumped” by the win after a week of questions about his forwards’ lack of punch during the pool stage.

The Pack Answers, Samoa’s Discipline Cracks

The numbers explain the scoreline. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, who played for Samoa at the 2019 World Cup and stood nose to nose with their war dance before kick-off, ran 136 metres from 13 carries, and Patrick Carrigan made 138 metres from 16 hit-ups; no Samoan forward ran for more than 70 metres. Samoa finished with nine errors and conceded 12 penalties and set restarts combined, and against a side with Australia’s finishers that is a losing hand. The defeat ends the run of the side whose shock charge to the 2022 final made this semi-final a rematch of that decider, which Australia won 30-10 at Old Trafford.

Sixteen Straight Finals, And The Kiwis Again

Australia have now reached 16 successive men’s World Cup finals and have won the past three tournaments; a win next Sunday would be a fourth straight title and a record-extending 13th in all. New Zealand booked their place on Saturday, beating Tonga 34-10 in Newcastle with Kalyn Ponga leading the way, the game iimiTV covered as Ponga led the Kiwis into the final. The decider is the first Australia-New Zealand men’s World Cup final since 2013, when Australia won 34-2 at Old Trafford, and it replays this tournament’s opener, which the Kangaroos took 24-22 in Sydney.

For Canadian viewers the kick-off is a late one: 7:35 p.m. in Brisbane on Sunday, November 15 is 3:35 a.m. Eastern in Toronto. On the evidence of Sunday night, it is worth the alarm. Samoa held the lead for the opening minutes and never stopped swinging; the Kangaroos spent the rest of the night showing why their place in the final is the game’s default setting, and why beating them in one remains the hardest job in rugby league.