World Cup 2026 : Round Three (Mens)

The final group round, with the top from each group progressing and the rest on the plane home.

England 34-12 PNG. England needed to win by a large margin and raced to a 22-0 at a point a minute lead but perhaps that early success worked against them as points dried up. 

PNG came back and England defended that well. Good defending isn't scoring much needed points and two wins from three wasn't good enough, thanks to an unusual format. 

New Zealand 78-0 Fiji. Fiji really pushed Australia in Round 2 but the Kiwis were on fire and raced to a 48-0 half time lead. Some of the Kiwi players were disgracefully aggressive. Unnecessary and a blight on a fine performance. 

Australia  66:6 Cook Is. In what was a formality, Australia got to a 28-6 lead at half time against a spirited Kukis side. The second half was more like what was expected. 

Lebanon 24;20 France. France have had a tough tournament but only trailed 6-8 lead at the turn around. It was 20-20 at full tand lebanon snatched a charge down try. I thought it was tough on France who seemed to have the better of the game, but not the calls.

Tonga 20:18 Samoa. Tonga led just 8-4 at half time, no good for England. Samoa came back to lead 18-14 but Tonga scraped home by millimetres. 

For video match highlights and post match interviews, simply click here. 

World Cup 2026 : Round Three (Women)

The final group round, with the top two in each group moving forward and others moving home.

Samoa 24-6 England. Any side with NRWL experience will beat any side from the UK SL I expected Samoa to run away with it but the 12-0 scoreline at halftime was good considering the amount of attacking opportunities Samoa had. 

Fiji 54-6 France. France was solid in the first half and only trailed 0-20. France then scored a slick try but then the game got away from them. 

New Zealand 40-12 PNG. In a tight first half, the Kiwis were just ahead 14-12 at the turn around. The second half was one way traffic but PNG battled hard. 

Australia 124:6 Wales. In an embarrassment to international RL, Australia raced to a 60-0 lead at the break and the second half was only different because Wales did get some points. 

For video match highlights and post match interviews, simply click here. 

World Cup 2026 : Round One (Wheelchair)

It's an interesting addition to the World Cup and starts later than the other formats. 

Ireland 110:10. Ireland were slick in racing away to a 66-6 half time lead. The US was more competitive later on but didn't have the quality to match their opponents.

England 98-18 Wales. After the first quarter, it was only 18-12 to England as Wales started spiritedly. It was 46-12 come half time and then England pulled away. 

France 114-0 Scotland. France is one of the favourites and Scotland anything but. It was 50-0 at half time so the result went the way of the seeding. Blow out scores are not uncommon in this form of the game.  

Australia 102-14 New Zealand. NZ is at its first World Cup and this is going to be a learning curve. It was just that with Australia up 48-10 at the break. 

For video match highlights and post match interviews, simply click here.