Kalyn Ponga and the Kiwis woke up this morning with the one thing Saturday night could not give them: an opponent. The full story of the semi-final itself is in iimiTV’s breaking report on Ponga leading the Kiwis into the World Cup final, where Ponga set up three tries in his return from a broken arm as New Zealand beat Tonga 34-10 in Newcastle.
FINAL: New Zealand 34, Tonga 10. By Sunday night in Sydney, the other half of the Rugby League World Cup final was settled too, and it is the rematch the whole tournament has pointed to since opening night.
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How to watch: Australia vs New Zealand, Sunday, November 15, 2026, 7:35 p.m. AEDT at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
TV (Australia): Seven and 7plus
Live on (UK): Premier Sports, 8:35 a.m. GMT
Kangaroos Beat Samoa 44-12 To Book The Rematch
The Kangaroos completed the final pairing on Sunday, beating Samoa 44-12 at Allianz Stadium in front of 41,259 fans, as the NRL’s official match report records. Reece Walsh scored a hat-trick, Tom Dearden and Cameron Munster steered the side to a 26-2 half-time lead, and Australia ran in eight tries in what AAP called their most complete performance of the tournament. Samoa lost Spencer Leniu to the sin bin for dissent late in the first half and finished with nine errors and 12 set restarts or penalties conceded.
Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters was measured about a side now one win from a fourth straight crown. “Tonight was a really good performance. I still think there’s a bit more in us too, so that’s exciting,” Walters told AAP, adding of his forwards: “Our middle forwards, I thought they stood up really well, they’ve been questioned and criticised by some people but not within our group.” Samoa coach Ben Gardiner claimed Australia benefited from “homeground calls,” but the scoreboard gap was built on Walsh, who celebrated one try with a backflip, dropped a bomb that gifted Stephen Crichton a try, and then answered with two more tries of his own. The tournament’s official highlights carry all eight Australian tries:
Fisher-Harris Cleared, And The Ponga Gamble Settled
New Zealand’s Sunday brought the news the camp needed most. Captain James Fisher-Harris is free to lead the Kiwis in the final after escaping with a warning for the grade-one dangerous contact charge from the semi-final, when he was placed on report for raising his knee into Solesi Foketi’s head in the 12th minute. The match review committee issued its decision on Sunday morning: the World Cup has no fines, first-time offences draw warnings, and only a second offence would bring a ban.
The one injury question also moved the right way. Prop Naufahu Whyte, who left the Tonga game early in the second half with an ankle injury, believes he will be right for the final, according to Roosters coach Trent Robinson on Channel 7, and Xavier Willison passed a head injury assessment in the second half and returned. Ponga himself completed his return uninjured, 23 days after breaking his forearm in the tournament opener against Australia. Kiwis coach Stacey Jones explained the call that defined Saturday night, in comments reported by BBC Sport: “He’s a tough character and he was so adamant he was playing. We didn’t know until after our second-to-last training that he was going to be all right, he ticked all the boxes. Just a tough person.” The semi-final highlights, with Ponga’s three try assists and his try-saving tackle on Demitric Vaimauga, are the official tournament cut:
A Double Trans-Tasman Final, Just Like 2022
Sunday settled the women’s final on the same terms. The Jillaroos survived a major scare from World Cup first-timers Fiji to win 30-14 at Allianz Stadium, behind four tries and 205 run metres from winger Abbi Church, after Fiji had led 8-0 and held the world champions level at half-time. That sends Australia into the women’s final against the Kiwi Ferns, who beat Samoa 32-0 on Saturday behind a Stacey Waaka hat-trick to reach their seventh successive final.
As the NRL’s semi-final report puts it, just as it was in 2022 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand will meet in both the men’s and women’s World Cup finals next Sunday in Brisbane. The women’s final opens the day at Suncorp Stadium before the men’s decider, a double-header that gives New Zealand two shots at ending Australia’s hold on both trophies on the same afternoon.
What The Morning After Means Next
The final is a repeat of the 2000, 2008 and 2013 deciders, and of this tournament’s opening game, which Australia won 24-22 in Sydney last month with Reece Walsh’s 68th-minute score the difference. The 2008 final was played at the same Brisbane ground and produced one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, the Benji Marshall-inspired Kiwis winning 34-20. Australia arrive unbeaten in four games and chasing a fourth successive title after wins in 2013, 2017 and 2022; New Zealand arrive in their first final since 2013, chasing a first title since 2008.
That sets the duel the final will turn on: the two fullbacks. Walsh scored the winner when these sides met in October and a hat-trick on Sunday; Ponga broke his arm in that October game, played 20 minutes with the break, and then produced the semi-final performance of the tournament three weeks later to put his side in the final. Fox Sports’ semi-final coverage framed next Sunday the same way, a final that will be lit up by Reece Walsh and Kalyn Ponga, in front of a sold-out Suncorp Stadium. Saturday night belonged to Ponga’s comeback. This morning, the final it earned him is fully set.
