Key events
13 mins: A set restart for Australia now after a solid carry from Preston. Walsh tries to stand up Nikorima on the right edge but the little five-eighth holds his own. On tackle three some momentum starts to build. Munster goes long to the left, Mitchell taps on to Bostock, but New Zealand have numbers to cover. Again there’s a lack of organisation on the last tackle with Grant kicking this time. The Kangaroos are rusty.
11 mins: Finally some creativity from the Kangaroos on tackle four, keeping the ball alive, looking for some broken field for Mitchell to exploit. It all gets a bit chaotic though and on the last it falls to Preston to gain territory with his boot. Ponga gets straight into his work in response, sidestepping along his 20m line, wrong-footing Munster. With go-forward there’s the first set restart of the night, then Fisher-Harris has room to bustle through the defensive line. The Kiwis are coming – until Munster clotheslines Isaako and New Zealand have a penalty 15m out.
Play comes infield from the right, Tapine is dangerous, the ball goes back to the right for Ponga to dictate, but throughout Australia’s defensive line is robust. On the last Hughes lofts the ball towards the crossbar, it comes to ground off hands, and Mulitalo is first to pounce on it! Is that a try? Adam Gee doesn’t think so, and the TMO agrees, the ball was knocked forward by the Cronulla winger in the air.
9 mins: The mighty Kiwi pack continues to grind, Hughes continues to launch the kick on the last into the night sky, and his chasing compatriots continue to maul whichever Australian finds himself underneath it.
7 mins: There’s a chance the best try of the World Cup has been scored after just five minutes. There surely won’t be a better finish. The Kiwis make no mistakes with their restart set and the kick-chase is menacing. Australia need a settler but the second bone-crunching hit of the night on Preston stops the Kangaroos in their tracks. The home side have no momentum early.
TRY! Australia 0-6 New Zealand (McLean, 5)
Grant throws an awful pass out of dummy-half that almost slides forward on the ground in another unspectacular Australian drive. New Zealand look livelier with ball in hand, Nikorima is busy behind the ruck, and on the last Hughes has time to launch another huge bomb – and this time Mulitalo leaps above Trbojevic in the air and taps the ball backwards. McLean accepts the gift, steps around the outside, hurtles towards the left corner, dives, and with his body in the air, horizontal, outside the field of play, somehow, somehow, he still manages to plant it down in-goal for the tournament’s opening try! Incredible skill from the 20 year old!
Jamayne Isaako, the best goalkicker in the NRL, curls over a touchline conversion like it’s a training drill.
2 mins: Tino Fa’asuamaleaui takes the first hit-up of the competition before handing off responsibility to his forward pack colleagues. No risks taken, a solid kick on the last, and Australia are off and running. As is Kalyn Ponga, who makes good metres returning from fullback. The Kiwis go through hands on tackle four but they also take the conservative route, allowing Hughes to test Walsh with an early bomb.
Kick-off!
The men’s rugby league world cup is under way…
New Zealand to kick-off. Here we go.
Walsh joins a crescent of Australians on his side’s 40m line. 20m away the Kiwis form a huddle 20m. In the middle of it the mighty James Fisher-Harris revs up his troops for a prematch Haka. What an awesome sight.
Reece Walsh is in tears as Advance Australia Fair reverberates around Moore Park. The occasion is building nicely.
And out they walk, under the floodlights, and into the crucible. The 2026 rugby league world cup is finally here.
Here come the two sets of players out of the dressing rooms and into the Allianz Stadium tunnel. Isaah Yeo and James Fisher-Harris at the front of two lines of warriors.
A reminder, in case it was needed: Australia will be wearing green with gold accents, New Zealand are top to toe in black with flashes of white.
Conditions in Sydney are pretty dismal. The temperature is around 15C, there’s been drizzle in the air all day, and there’s a southeasterly breeze to contend with.
Tonight’s referee is Adam Gee, the man in the middle of the recent NRL grand final. He excelled quietly on that occasion and the big match rewards keep flowing his direction.
2026 Rugby League World Cup Format
Participants:
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The 2026 men’s RLWC features ten teams. Eight of these qualified via their performances at the last world cup, back in 2022. That is: Australia, New Zealand, England, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, PNG, and Lebanon. The first seven countries in that list also happen to be the top seven on the IRL rankings; Lebanon are a lowly 23rd.
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The remaining qualifiers, France and Cook Islands, won regional playoffs. Cook Islands are ranked eighth in the world, by the way, France recently held that position but have slipped to 11th. In other words, the cream of the crop will be on display.
Rules:
Group phase:
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The ten teams have been distributed into three pools.
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Pool A contains Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Cook Islands. The top two from this group qualify for the semi-finals.
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The teams in Pool B (England, Samoa, Lebanon) play the teams in Pool C (Tonga, PNG, France) with the top two on a combined group table qualifying for the semi-finals.
Knockouts:
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The winner of Pool A takes on the runner-up from Pool B&C in Sydney.
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The winner of Pool B&C takes on the runner-up from Pool A in Newcastle.
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The world cup final is in Brisbane on 15 November.
Schedule:
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The group phase will take place over the following three weekends. After tonight, remaining matches will be staged only on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
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The fourth weekend will feature the semi-finals, with the final wrapping up proceedings the following Sunday.
Venues:
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10 locations will host matches. Eight of these are in Australia: Sydney (Allianz Arena), Sydney (Commbank Arena), Brisbane, Newcastle, Gold Coast, Townsville, Wollongong, and Perth; while Port Moresby will host two Papua New Guinea matches, and Christchurch will stage one New Zealand fixture.
There are mouthwatering match-ups all over the park. In the backs we’ve got Storm playmakers Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes going head-to-head, Queensland fullbacks Reece Walsh and Kalyn Ponga facing off, and fierce rivals Latrell Mitchell and Dane Gagai coming together once more in the centres.
Further forward the battle promises to be brutal. The New Zealand pack is among the most intimidating ever listed and will put the all-Maroon front row under immense pressure.
Team News
Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters has the most enviable array of talent at his disposal. What makes his side newsworthy is never the players selected, but those missing out.
The most notable of those is fullback James Tedesco, with Reece Walsh selected in the No 1 jersey despite a modest season with the Broncos and Tedesco excelling during State of Origin then winning the Clive Churchill Medal in the NRL grand final. It has been suggested the Rooster is carrying a niggle and will have the opportunity to stake his claim later in the pool phase.
Nathan Cleary’s gruesome injury opened the door for a new halfback partner for Cameron Munster with Mitchell Moses winning the race. Tom Dearden will wear the No 14 jersey while Sam Walker misses out entirely.
Isaah Yeo captains the side after delaying surgery to feature int he tournament.
How strong are the Kiwis? Strong enough to start Erin Clark and Naufahu Whyte on the pine, despite each having strong claims to being the NRL player of the season in their respective positions. However, a middle three of James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota, and Joseph Tapine is up there with the most intimidating trio of big men in the sport.
Newcastle Knights and Queensland star Kalyn Ponga starts at fullback and he is the pick of many experts to be named the player of the tournament.
New Zealand XIII
1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Dane Gagai 4. Casey McLean 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. James Fisher-Harris (c) 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Moses Leota 11. Isaiah Papali’i 12. Briton Nikora 13. Joseph Tapine
Interchange: 14. Te Maire Martin 15. Naufahu Whyte 16. Erin Clark 17. Xavier Willison 18. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 19. Keano Kini
Australia XIII
1. Reece Walsh 2. Jack Bostock 3. Latrell Mitchell 4. Kotoni Staggs 5. Tom Trbojevic 6. Cameron Munster 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Patrick Carrigan 9. Harry Grant 10. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 11. Jacob Preston 12. Liam Martin 13. Isaah Yeo (c).
Interchange: 14. Tom Dearden 15. Cameron Murray 16. Reuben Cotter 17. Keaon Koloamatangi 18. David Fifita 19. Bradman Best
As Jack Snape reports, it is the growth of historical “tier two nations” that has transformed the RLWC into something deserving of the name.
The passionate support for these increasingly competitive “tier two” nations provides the lifeblood for this 10-team tournament, supported by loosening eligibility laws that have helped spread around the depth of the NRL. Sell-outs are expected for the match between Tonga and Samoa, the Port Moresby contests and the only match in New Zealand – in Christchurch on 25 October – even if tickets remain available for all of the hosts’ fixtures.
Reassuringly for tournament organisers, tonight’s match is a sell-out, so Allianz Stadium should be in full voice.
Tonight’s protagonists begin the tournament as favourites but Tonga and Samoa are packed with NRL talent and England have no shortage of quality. This is potentially the most open rugby league world cup in history.
The Kiwis face the difficult task of the defending champions first up – but they look like a side who could grow into the tournament. Stacey Jones has arguably the best forward pack of the whole field, and with the likes of Kalyn Ponga and Jahrome Hughes causing chaos behind their middle unit, there is an argument that New Zealand could be favourites.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of the opening match of the 2026 men’s Rugby League World Cup. It’s the two favourites to kick us off with Australia meeting New Zealand at Allianz Stadium in Sydney from 8.05pm local time (10.05am BST / 10.05pm NZDT).
Skills have never been sharper, play has never been faster, and the strength in depth of Super League and the NRL makes for compelling sport on a weekly basis. The Vegas experiment has come up trumps. Expansion into Papua New Guinea is imminent. By almost every metric rugby league is flying.
One obvious exception is on the international front. This World Cup should have been staged in France last year but the hosts pulled out after the French government withdrew funding. The solution to push the competition back a year and shift it down under was accompanied by a reduction in competing nations from 16 to 10, and the total number of matches from 31 to 18.
Since the inaugural tournament in 1954 the RLWC has not followed the traditional quadrennial cycle. It has a history of being cobbled together on an ad hoc basis. There has never been a glut of international teams demanding of such an exercise to prove their status, illustrated by Australia winning three-quarters of all World Cups, including nine of the past 10.
But the fluid nature of national identity is beginning to test the status quo. The proliferation of first-grade footballers with Pacific Island heritage, and their readiness to represent the nations of their ancestry has allowed genuine contenders to emerge in the form of Tonga and 2022 runners-up Samoa, while Cook Islands, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea all boast high profile coaches and plenty of top-level experience among their ranks.
Domestic rugby league is thriving and State of Origin has raised the bar, now it’s time for the international scene to make a statement.
I’ll be back with final team lists and more shortly. Please send me your emails and keep me company throughout the evening. The address is jonathan.howcroft.freelance@theguardian.com.
