It’s official, family: the Rugby League World Cup 2026 semi finals are set. Down to the final four in each draw, and the Pacific is everywhere you look.
Count them. On the men’s side, Mate Ma’a Tonga and Toa Samoa are two of the last four standing, alongside New Zealand and the Kangaroos. On the women’s side, Fetu Samoa and Fiji are two of the last four, alongside the Kiwi Ferns and the Jillaroos. That is four Pasifika nations in World Cup semi finals in one weekend. Add in a Kiwis roster carrying our blood from one to seventeen, and the picture is clear.
This is not just a good tournament for the islands. This is the Pacific Island takeover, live and on the clock.
Let that sink in.
Two of these matches are coronations the favorites are expected to finish. Two of them are coin flips that could send a nation to a maiden final. We’ve always known our people are built for this game. Now the bracket is proving it in front of a sold out Australia. Here’s your full breakdown. Four matches, eight teams, one weekend, with where to watch and who we’re backing.
Rugby League World Cup 2026 Semi Finals: When, Where & How to Watch
Everything runs across two nights. A Newcastle doubleheader on Saturday, a Sydney doubleheader on Sunday. Both cities, both codes, back to back.
🗓️ Saturday, November 7, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
- Women’s: Kiwi Ferns v Fetu Samoa, 5:45pm AEDT · 1:45am ET (Sat) · 10:45pm PT (Fri)
- Men’s: Kiwis v Mate Ma’a Tonga, 8:05pm AEDT · 4:05am ET (Sat) · 1:05am PT (Sat)
🗓️ Sunday, November 8, Allianz Stadium, Sydney
- Women’s: Jillaroos v Fiji, 5:45pm AEDT · 1:45am ET (Sun) · 10:45pm PT (Sat)
- Men’s: Kangaroos v Toa Samoa, 8:05pm AEDT · 4:05am ET (Sun) · 1:05am PT (Sun)
📺 USA: Every game streams live on Premier Sports, with the whole tournament a single $25 payment at premiersports.com. In Australia it’s free on the Seven Network and 7plus.
One note for the family watching from the States: the Pacific time kickoffs land the night before the Australian date. The Saturday night games in Newcastle are a Friday night and early Saturday watch on the West Coast. Set the alarm, or set the coffee.
The winners meet in the Grand Final on Sunday, November 15 at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.
MEN’S SEMI FINAL 1: Kiwis v Mate Ma’a Tonga
This is the one the whole tournament has been pointing at. The form team against the firepower.
Let’s talk receipts. Tonga walked into this World Cup written off, having slipped out of the world’s top four after a rough 2025, and then went and won the hardest group in the draw, unbeaten.
- England 12, Tonga 30 (the upset that ended England’s tournament at the group stage)
- Tonga 36, Lebanon 0
- Tonga 20, Samoa 18 (the derby that clinched top spot, more on that below)
Three from three. A statement, a shutout, and a dogfight. That’s the island mentality right there.
The man making it go is Isaiya Katoa. The Dolphins halfback is the calmest head in the competition, and against Samoa he kicked them home with three conversions and a penalty when the margins got thin. Around him, Jason Taumalolo is still the freight train, Addin Fonua-Blake is leading the pack and scoring tries, and Haumole Olakau’atu is grinding out the hard metres that win knockout footy. Kristian Woolf has had this group since 2014. He knows exactly what he’s holding.
The problem? New Zealand are peaking at the same time.
The Kiwis’ only blemish all tournament is a two point loss to Australia in the opening match, 24 to 22, a game they could just as easily have won. Since then they have been merciless: 82 to 16 over the Cook Islands, 78 to nil over Fiji. That is 160 points in two games. Stacey Jones has Jahrome Hughes running the show, James Fisher-Harris and Erin Clark, both Dally M Team of the Year, anchoring a monster forward pack, and Kalyn Ponga at the back, now in black, now one of us on the team sheet.
Here’s the matchup. Tonga’s edge is their spine and their spirit: Isaiya’s control, a forward pack that doesn’t take a backward step, and the momentum of a team that already beat a Tier 1 nation this month. New Zealand’s edge is depth and point scoring that nobody else in this draw has matched.
Our call: Tonga. Not a safe pick, because New Zealand have been the bigger scoreboard story. But the form team is the form team, and a Katoa, Fonua-Blake, Taumalolo spine in a one score game is the kind of trouble the Kiwis haven’t faced yet. Mate Ma’a by a whisker. Prove us right, Tonga.
MEN’S SEMI FINAL 2: Kangaroos v Toa Samoa
We’ve seen this movie. We just want a different ending.
The last time Samoa and Australia met with everything on the line, it was the 2022 World Cup Final, Samoa’s first ever, Australia the wall that stopped them. Four years on, Toa Samoa get the rematch a round early, and they get it as a nation that has already proven it belongs on the last stage.
For the Kangaroos, read the room: they are three from three and they are the favorites, but they have not been the Australia of nightmares.
- Australia 24, New Zealand 22 (escaped the opener by two)
- Australia 36, Fiji 22 (closer than the scoreline suggests)
- Australia 66, Cook Islands 6 (business as usual)
Kevin Walters has the names, with Reece Walsh, Cameron Munster, Harry Grant and Isaah Yeo leading them out, but a two point win over New Zealand and a scrappy night against Fiji says this is a side that can be lived with for 80 minutes.
Now the honest part about Toa Samoa. This is a dangerous, deep, stacked squad: Jarome Luai organizing, Stephen Crichton doing everything, Brian To’o who scored twice in the derby, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow flying at the back, Junior Paulo leading the pack. But they come in off a two point loss to Tonga, and this isn’t the full strength Samoa some of us dreamed about. A run of injuries thinned the squad before a ball was kicked, and the halves took a knock in the derby that the whole family is watching.
Here’s the matchup. Australia are deeper, more experienced, and carrying a championship pedigree. Samoa have the roster to hurt anybody and the history to believe. The difference between 2022 and now is that Toa Samoa walk in as proven semi finalists, not hopefuls.
Our call: Australia, but not the blowout the 2022 final was. The Kangaroos are the pick on paper and on depth. Yet if any team in this draw has the spine to shock them, it’s this one, and a tighter contest than the bookies expect would surprise nobody who watched Samoa push them last time. Give us a reason to lose our minds, Toa Samoa.
WOMEN’S SEMI FINAL 1: Kiwi Ferns v Fetu Samoa
This is history, full stop. Fetu Samoa are in a Women’s Rugby League World Cup semi final for the first time ever, and back at a World Cup after an eighteen year wait.
How they got here is the story of the whole women’s tournament. Samoa opened with a brutal lesson, a 40 to nil loss to the Jillaroos, and a lot of people filed them away. Then the young team, average age barely twenty one, grew up in real time.
- Australia 40, Samoa 0 (the opening reality check)
- Samoa 76, Wales 0 (a debutant hat trick and a record goal kicking night)
- Samoa 24, England 6 (the do or die win that booked the semi and knocked England out)
Five tries to one against a fancied England side, with a nation’s first semi on the line. New coach Frank Pritchard has them believing, and he knows exactly what the moment asks. His own warning after the England win was simple: “we can’t get complacent after this win.”
Smart man. Because waiting for them are the Kiwi Ferns, three time world champions, who put 92 points on France and have Apii Nicholls, Mele Hufanga and Stacey Waaka in the kind of form that ends tournaments. Ricky Henry’s side did get a genuine scare from Fiji in their opener, proof they’re human, but class like this doesn’t usually get caught twice.
Our call: New Zealand. The Ferns are the heavy favorite and the gap in experience is real. But understand what’s already been won here. Fetu Samoa made history to reach this stage, and a young squad playing with house money against the champions is exactly the kind of team that plays free. Whatever the scoreboard says Saturday, the islands already made this one count.
WOMEN’S SEMI FINAL 2: Jillaroos v Fiji
And then there’s the fairytale. Fiji are in a Women’s Rugby League World Cup for the first time in their history, and they’re already in a semi final.
Let that one sit. Fiji only qualified for this tournament late in 2025. Their first World Cup. Their first semi. Same run.
- New Zealand 18, Fiji 12 (led the champions 12 to 4 after half an hour before falling short)
- Fiji 40, PNG 4
- Fiji 54, France 6 (the win that sealed the semi)
That performance against New Zealand is the receipt that matters. A brand new World Cup side led the three time champions deep into the game. Joe Dakuitoga’s team, captained by fullback Cassie Staples with Sienna Laing and Losana Lutu carving out the big moments, is improving every week.
The reality check is who’s across the line. The Jillaroos have been the most ruthless team in either draw, men’s or women’s. Look at the pool aggregate: 242 points scored, 6 conceded. A 78 to nil win over England. A record rout of Wales, 124 to 6. Jocelyn Kelleher has been untouchable, Isabelle Kelly and Olivia Kernick lead a side that simply has no weakness, and Jess Skinner’s defending champions are the overwhelming favorites for the whole thing.
Our call: Australia, comfortably. On talent and on form this is a mismatch, and honesty demands we say so. But don’t you dare miss what Fiji have done. First World Cup, first semi, and they already scared New Zealand. For every young girl in Suva and Nadi and Lautoka watching the Bulikula walk out against the best team on earth, that’s the win. The scoreboard is Australia’s. The story is Fiji’s.
The Verdict Board
Four matches, four calls, zero fence sitting:
- Kiwis v Mate Ma’a Tonga → Tonga, by a whisker
- Kangaroos v Toa Samoa → Australia, but closer than they’d like
- Kiwi Ferns v Fetu Samoa → New Zealand
- Jillaroos v Fiji → Australia
If the two coin flips both land our way, the family gets a men’s final with a Pacific nation in it and a weekend nobody forgets. Even if they don’t, four Pasifika teams in the final four, plus a Kiwis roster that is ours in all but the jersey, is a mark on the record books that can’t be erased.
What Happens Next?
The two winners from each draw meet in the Grand Finals on Sunday, November 15 at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. A Pacific nation in either decider changes what this sport looks like for the next generation. That’s what’s on the line this weekend. Not just a final, but a flag planted for every one of us.
We’ll be watching every minute, family. Newcastle Saturday, Sydney Sunday, the whole island on the same clock. Back our boys and our sisters, grab the $25, and let’s go take the final four.
For the culture. Into the semis.
