Summary

Thank you for joining me tonight. Australia march on, but they were given an almighty scare by Fiji. Catch you back here next weekend.

Related: Australia survive almighty Fiji scare to stay unbeaten at Rugby League World Cup

The final round of group matches begins on Friday evening with England desperate to pile on points against PNG in Wollongong. Then it’s up to the Gold Coast for NZ v Fiji on Saturday afternoon, before Australia take on Cook Islands in Townsville that evening.

Lebanon and France begin Sunday’s action at Commbank Stadium, but it is the second half of that double header: Tonga v Samoa, that is poised to provide the highlight of the world cup so far. If you only watch one match this tournament, make it that one.

Australia can now look ahead to a final round tune-up against Cook Islands before a blockbuster semi-final against Tonga or Samoa. Fiji are not yet out of the picture but they will need to beat New Zealand to stay alive.

Ah, lovely, Donoghoe has been named player of the match after all. He gives his post-match TV interview wearing an Australia jersey and speaking in a Novocastrian accent.

Despite being on the losing side Kurt Donoghoe was my player of the match, with halves partner Brandon Wakeham not too far behind. It’s so good for international rugby league that a team seventh on the rankings can take it to the world champions in such a manner.

If that was an audition for places in Australia’s best XIII, I’d argue only James Tedesco and Blayke Brailey advanced their causes significantly.

The forward pack is becoming a major concern. New Zealand bullied them in round one and, according to Roosters coach Trent Robinson, Fiji “outmuscled them” tonight.

Full-time: Australia 36-22 Fiji

A wholehearted effort from the Bati, but an underwhelming Kangaroos prevail in Brisbane.

78 mins: Should Australian fans celebrate winning ugly or be worried at how unconvincing the Kangaroos have been in their opening two matches?

CONVERTED TRY! Australia 36-22 Fiji (Preston, 76)

The Kangaroos ice it. 10m out against a tiring defensive line Brailey sets the play in motion, Walker controls the tempo at first receiver, Dearden is sharp on his outside, and Preston steams through the resulting hole and behind the posts.

75 mins: Leiu with a high tackle on Smith running out of defence and Australia get more breathing room.

Walters is only going to use three of his four interchanges.

74 mins: Fiji accept the long drop-out and attack from the 30m line. Navale hammers into the defensive line. Wakeham and Donoghoe try to manufacture something in broken field. Australia are well set, can something happen on the last? No! Wakeham’s kick is too heavy and Bostock can mark in-goal. The winger tears off on the counter – but he taps a metre or two after the 20m line and the possible rebound score is called all the way back to its origin.

72 mins: Australia are flagging again as Donoghoe and Wakeham urge their forwards downfield off the back of a set restart. They reach the 10m line on the last Wakeham hoists it, but Best marks in a contest! Then the Knight is hustled in-goal to force a drop-out. This is heroic stuff from the Bati.

CONVERTED TRY! Australia 30-22 Fiji (Valemei, 70)

Maybe Fiji have some fight left after all! From the penalty, Fiji drive to the 20m, then the brilliant Donoghoe takes over, taking possession, angling his run to the left, holding his pass, drawing in defenders, then executing his third inch-perfect cutout to Valemei to slide over in the corner! Trbojevic again left grasping at air – and both wingers on that edge have hat-tricks!

Wakeham keeps the game alive with a curled conversion that only just sneaks through!

Updated

68 mins: It’s not a great set though and it ends with Tedesco corralled by Saukuru and a few bodies coming together from both sides. If the scoreline was closer there could be some late needle but both sets of players look too exhausted to put their dukes up.

67 mins: It’s all getting a bit scrappy now as fatigue sets in and the pitch cuts up. Both those factors contribute to Milne clotheslining Tedesco and inviting Australia on yet another attack.

66 mins: Australia line up another shot but it’s a weak one with Walker overhitting his short pass to the onrushing Murray and the Souths lock is absolutely ironed out by Donoghoe.

65 mins: All the running is with Australia now. Trbojevic pads his stats, Smith is busy, Fa’asuamaleaui is forceful, and by the last there’s momentum in the red zone and almost an opening on the left where Trbojevic pops up unexpectedly! Walker takes control, dropping the ball on his boot and Tedesco almost wins the chase – but the ball is pushed behind for a drop-out.

CONVERTED TRY! Australia 30-16 Fiji (Trbojevic, 63)

The rub of the green continues to go Australia’s way. Fiji look to have forced an error with their aggressive defence but instead of gathering the loose ball there’s a knock-on. The Kangaroos relish the broken field. Best eats up the metres on the left. Brailey sends play back infield, Tedesco controls the tempo, then it’s catch-and-pass to the right for Trbojevic to complete his hat-trick! Walker kicks a couple more points for good measure.

Convention now dictates the Manly winger will earn the player of the match award, despite not having a very good game.

Updated

62 mins: Wakeham and Donoghoe have been superb. They march Fiji downfield to the left, then on the last the former bombs to the corner and the latter grabs it and almost touches down, but runs out of play. So so close.

60 mins: Australia look to be matching Fiji in the physical battle for the first time as the Bati energy levels start to drop. The Kangaroos still look disjointed though with the rarely-sighted Best knocking on.

CONVERTED TRY! Australia 24-16 Fiji (Trbojevic, 58)

James Tedesco is the difference between these sides. His previous try assists were textbook assertive fullback running, this one is a fortuitous grubber that bounced the right way; that way being off a couple of boots and into the hands of Trbojevic on the right wing, the Manly man retaining his composure to step infield and flop over in contact. While the outcome of Tedesco’s kick required plenty of luck, the decision making beforehand was spot on with Turuva out of position and plenty of momentum to the side in green.

Walker curls over a tremendous touchline conversion.

57 mins: Still the Fiji pack continues to deny Australia’s forwards metres after contact. With slow ball Brailey tries to inject something and almost throws an intercept to Donoghoe in pursuit of Preston. The Fijian half can only knock-on and the Kangaroos get another shot.

Penalty! Australia 18-16 Fiji (Walker, 55)

On the 20m line, just to the left of the posts, Walker takes an age before eventually kicking Australia back in front.

Updated

54 mins: Australia up the tempo and scamper downfield against a retreating defence. At the 20m Brailey is tipped after contact behind play and the Kangaroos are awarded a penalty. In an indication of the state of the game, Walker has been invited to kick for goal.

52 mins: Fiji build up a head of steam on the left but Australia defend in numbers in the left corner. Kautoga tries to force his way over from a metre out. On the last the kick is up to a contest near the uprights – but it’s overhit, Best marks, and the Kangaroos get a seven tackle set.

51 mins: Australia tread water coming out of defence on the restart but Murray does well on tackle five to allow his halves to kick from halfway. Then there’s a defensive nightmare as Turuva is allowed to run opposed behind the ruck until he’s clotheslined by a frustrated Walker. The Kangaroos are a rabble.

TRY! Australia 16-16 Fiji (Trbojevic, 49)

That is a 10-point swing Australia’s way. Following the penalty the Kangaroos race downfield, Murray gets a quick play-the-ball, and the green and gold ball players get to work going through hands quickly to the right until Trbojevic has enough room on the outside to scoot into the right corner. Fiji will feel aggrieved there wasn’t an obstruction penalty called against Fifita during the build-up, but the try stands.

Walker hangs the conversion attempt well to the right and the scores are level with half-an-hour to play.

Updated

48 mins: NO TRY! Fiji drive solidly for two tackles, then on the third Donoghoe feeds Saukuru through the line! No! Obstruction! Ravosai ran a decoy line that took Fifita out of the game. So so tough for Fiji.

48 mins: Australia lose possession coming out defence on tackle two! Bostock is adamant it was a knock-on by the attempted tackler and calls for a captain’s challenge. The Bunker reveals only that the winger’s arm was disrupted in the act of passing, not the ball, and Fiji will pack a scrum 30m out.

46 mins: This is a nightmare for Australia. They are losing the battle up front and have already used three of their four interchanges. Do Fiji believe they can do this?

CONVERTED TRY! Australia 12-16 Fiji (Valemei, 44)

Fiji come again following the penalty. Their forwards are all over the Kangaroos, setting up quick ball and forcing the defensive line to scramble. And in a near repeat of their opening try the Bati do it again! Donoghoe at first receiver, a massive cutout pass taking the out-of-position Trbojevic out of the game, and Valemei does the rest, sliding over into the left corner. Delirium for Fiji!

And the cheers continue as Wakeham curls over two more valuable points from the touchline.

Updated

42 mins: Walters tells the host broadcaster he wants more impetus from Australia’s defence, especially early in sets. There’s no obvious indication his players were listening as the Kangaroos restart the game with a routine set, then almost concede a try when Fiji’s kick-chase spoils Bostock in the air, the ball comes down in white hands and almost gets worked infield before Best knocks on to deny the opening.

That is the third half in a row that reveals an Australian side badly out of touch. The forwards are losing the physical battle, the halves aren’t pulling the right reins, and only Tedesco of the outside backs looks to have any pep in his step.

Kevin Walters has his work cut out oiling this machine in time for a semi-final date with Tonga or Samoa.

Half-time: Australia 12-10 Fiji

That attack is a scrappy mess with no cohesion among the playmakers and no forwards offering anything dynamic on the edge. That said, the kick on the last is inch perfect for Bostock in the left corner. The winger leaps, grabs, but fails to hold on! Fiji escape, but they will still be disappointed to go into the break behind after a stirring performance.

39 mins: Only Tedesco has looked like making something happen with individual brilliance and his trademark quickstep with strong hips buys a high shot on his 20m. The resulting penalty means the Kangaroos will have the last attack of the half.

38 mins: Australia are so disjointed. Dearden tries to run on the last but the left channel is closed off. Then Preston chips and chases into no-man’s land allowing Fiji to reassert their physical and territorial dominance.

36 mins: Walters has already used three interchange forwards as his pack struggles to gain a foothold. One of those, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, makes an incursion as Australia execute a decent restart set. Fiji respond with a completion of their own, then almost force a spoil on Dearden as the five-eighth accepts a hospital pass from Trbojevic running out of the red zone.

Updated

CONVERTED TRY! Australia 12-10 Fiji (Walker 34)

And just like that Australia retake the lead. It’s massively against the run of play, but Fiji only have themselves to blame. There was nobody marking on the last tackle and despite a slow ruck Tedesco was able to waltz through the open front door, shimmy through traffic, then work a neat succession of passes with Walker and Trbojevic, before the halfback dabs down. That is cruel on Fiji but the second demonstration tonight of Tedesco’s value to this faltering attack.

Walker converts his own try from under the bar.

Updated

32 mins: Bosh! Massive kick-chase hit on Trbojevic by Kautoga who lined up his prey a long way out and nailed his target. That’s tackle one of yet another poor set, rescued by a long Dearden kick to the left corner. Fiji have the bit between their teeth now and Koroisau keeps the intensity high as he leads his troops over halfway. This is magnificent from the outsiders, they are all over the favourites.

30 mins: Another weak set for Australia as Fiji start to throw their weight around up front. There are big concerns for the Kangaroos pack. But while things are going well in tight, the news is not so good further back for the Bati with Bentley-Hape off the field.

28 mins: Australia’s pack was monstered against New Zealand, and it is being bruised again by Fiji. The Bati drive their restart set comfortably to halfway and kick deep to Tedesco. The Kangaroos are a rabble coming out of defence. The forwards are all over the place and there is no go-forward. Brailey tries to rescue things with an attempted 40-20. The kick remains in touch but buys territory nonetheless.

CONVERTTED TRY! Australia 6-10 Fiji (Milne, 26)

Australia’s discipline is shocking. Yet another penalty after contact goes against a Kangaroo tackler, Smith this time, and Fiji can kick inside 20m on the right. The Bati line up under the crossbar, Koroisau sucks in the defensive chase by shaping left but going right, Wakeham stops time, dabs the ball into space, and the onrushing Taane Milne charges into that gap, dives onto the ball and Fiji take a deserved lead!

Wakeham adds the extras and Australia are stunned.

Updated

24 mins: Australia run the ball out of defence and Trbojevic makes decent yardage down the right. On the last Dearden woefully overhits his kick to the left corner and Turuva can mark unchallenged for a seven-tackle set.

22 mins: Koroisau and Wakeham conduct traffic infield, drawing the world champions onto them. Another set restart! Can Fiji take advantage? This is suffocating pressure, the defence is exhausted, and Blake runs across the line, behind his own man, and draws a soft obstruction penalty. Massive opportunity lost for the underdogs.

Updated

20 mins: Four solid drives out of defence from the Bati from the restart, and their forward power is rewarded with a penalty for Australia holding on after the tackle, and Fiji kick to their attacking 30. That becomes a full set inside 20 following a set restart. Again they come to the left with purpose and Staggs flies out of the line to intercept, but can only knock on with his fingertips! Another Fiji attacking set, this time inside 10m!

TRY! Australia 6-4 Fiji (Valemei, 18)

Trbojevic spills under contact running the ball out of defence. The Manly flyer hasn’t looked his usual self this world cup yet, not helped playing on a wing instead of fullback. And his night goes from bad to worse thanks to Kurt Donoghoe! On tackle four the five-eighth throws a majestic cutout pass that takes two Australian defenders out of the play – including Trbojevic who was caught infield – and it sails into the hands of Valemei close to the left touchline, and the winger does the rest! Fiji on the board!

The conversion attempt clips the far upright and the Kaaagroos retain the lead.

Updated

17 mins: Again Fiji deny Bostock in the left corner! Australia, and Koloamatangi in particular, rumble downfield at will, but when Walker orchestrates a move to the left the Bati defend smartly and deny the round one hat-trick man room on the outside. Fiji will not be happy to see veteran enforcer Saifiti leaving the field following some treatment on a leg injury.

15 mins: Great hands from Fifita on the right edge, followed by an audacious offload from Trbojevic back infield. It sets up a Walker bomb on the last that Tedesco very nearly hauls in inches from the line! Bentley-Hape escapes and the scoreline remains 6-0 – for now.

13 mins: Australia again look dangerous down the left through Best, Tedesco, and Bostock. Fiji shut that avenue down then Bentley-Hape deals with the kick on the last. There’s no go-forward coming out of their red zone and the Kangaroos rebuild near halfway.

11 mins: Australia go left to right then right to left like a set of small cresting waves. Koloamatangi does well to straighten the drive up, and Dearden continues his promising start as the left-sided of the two halves, finding Best, but he can’t reach Bostock on his outside as a Fiji hand stretches out to knock down the pass.

9 mins: Fiji need to be near-perfect to keep up with Australia, they have been anything but in these opening exchanges.

CONVERTED TRY! Australia 6-0 Fiji (Staggs, 7)

Fiji’s pack are doing well up front but when Australia throw the ball around there’s space to exploit. For the time being Fiji’s desperation is closing those gaps, denying first Bostock, then Dearden close to the line. But as soon as the underdogs run out of defence there’s a loose carry and for the third set in a row Australia are gifted another point scoring opportunity…

And this time they take it. From the quick play-the-ball on the 20m line James Tedesco takes the ball into the line, draws defenders, and times the short pass on his outside to Kotoni Staggs to perfection. The Brisbane Bronco pounds through the opening and blasts over the line he knows so well.

Walker adds the conversion.

Updated

4 mins: Australia look sharp through hands to the right and Fifita straightens up to drive towards the posts. Then the ball comes out to the left with Tedesco entering the line, tapping on, and allowing Bostock to consider heading to the corner. He stays infield and on the last the kick to the right corner is forced in goal. The Bati recover the dropout and are gifted a set restart early in the set, but there’s a second error when Koroisau is too sharp for his first receiver behind the ruck and the Kangaroos can regroup.

Updated

2 mins: Fiji go through hands after just three tackles and cross halfway with Bentley-Hape entering the line. The kick-chase is excellent too, pinning Tedesco near his own line. The Kangaroos take no risks coming out of their own end and rely on Walker to kick them into attacking territory… and yikes… Valemei drops a simple catch (possibly backwards, but given as a knock-on nonetheless) and Australia are on the front foot early.

Kick-off!

Fiji, wearing white with black trim and sky blue accents, accept the kick-off. Australia, in green and gold, are on the chase…

Fiji’s singing is beautiful. Such a gentle and haunting preface to 80 minutes of the most brutal international sport.

Noqu Masu, the Fiji team’s traditional pre-match prayer:

There are tears in the eyes of some of the Fijians as they sing their national anthem. Australia’s players stonier faced by comparison. More tears can be expected shortly as Fiji huddle to conduct their pre-game prayer.

Australia, led by former Italy international James Tedesco, and Fiji, steered by Api Koroisau, are gathered in the tunnel ready to make their way out onto the playing arena.

Tonight’s crowd is expected to be around 40,000, well below a sell out.

Conditions under the Suncorp Stadium floodlights aren’t too bad considering most of the east coast of Australia has sat under storm clouds for the past 24 hours. There’s likely to be further rain tonight, precipitation blown in by a slight northerly breeze.

Tonight’s referee is NRL veteran Gerard Sutton.

A quick reminder about the 2026 men’s Rugby League World Cup format.

Participants:

  • 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.

  • 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:

  • The tournament will be played under NRL rules, including six players on the interchange bench with up to four to be used.

Group phase:

  • The ten teams have been distributed into three pools.

  • Pool A contains Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Cook Islands. The top two from this group qualify for the semi-finals.

  • 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:

  • The winner of Pool A takes on the runner-up from Pool B&C in Sydney.

  • The winner of Pool B&C takes on the runner-up from Pool A in Newcastle.

  • The world cup final is in Brisbane on 15 November.

Schedule:

  • The group phase will take place over three weekends.

  • The fourth weekend will feature the semi-finals, with the final wrapping up proceedings the following Sunday.

Venues:

  • 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.

Updated

Team News

Australia: It’s all change for Kevin Walters’ Kangaroos as he spreads the load through the group phase of the tournament. James Tedesco, Sam Walker, Blayke Brailey and Lindsay Smith all come into the starting XIII from outside the squad, while Tom Dearden, Bradman Best, Cameron Murray, Reuben Cotter, Keaon Koloamatangi and David Fifita are promoted from the bench. Best, Walker and Brailey will all make their Test debuts while Fifita will make his Kangaroos debut after playing four Tests for Tonga at the 2022 World Cup.

Fiji: Mick Potter has gone with the same 19 that started the competition so impressively against Cook Islands. Hooker Api Koroisau is captain and lynchpin, veteran prop Jacob Saifiti provides some muscle up front, while Brandon Wakeham will aim to repeat his round one player of the match performance from halfback.

Fiji XIII

1. Bayleigh Bentley-Hape 2. Sunia Turuva 3. Waqa Blake 4. Solomone Saukuru 5. Semi Valemei 6. Kurt Donoghoe 7. Brandon Wakeham 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Apisai Koroisau (c) 10. Mitchell Prest 11. Taane Milne 12. Kitione Kautoga 13. Caleb Navale

Interchange: 14. Josese Lanyon 15. Emosi Ravosai 16. Elijah Keung 17. Ronald Philitoga 18. Jordin Leiu 19. Apenisa Driti

Australia XIII

1. James Tedesco (c) 2. Jack Bostock 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Bradman Best 5. Tom Trbojevic 6. Tom Dearden 7. Sam Walker 8. Keaon Koloamatangi 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Lindsay Smith 11. David Fifita 12. Reuben Cotter 13. Cameron Murray

Interchange: 14. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 15. Jacob Preston 16. Patrick Carrigan 17. Cameron Munster, 19. Latrell Mitchell, 21. Harry Grant

The jeopardy of losing one game in a pool of three is so harsh, it’s almost like we don’t get another chance to straighten things out. It’s just harsh that we have to take a standing eight count in that first round, but we’re ready to go again.

Nothing has gone wrong, it’s just a harsh competition in which you’ve got to hit the ground running, which we didn’t do.

I’m trying to be diplomatic here. If France held the World Cup, there would have been more teams in it and it would have been more like the usual format. I completely understand that if it has to be reduced to a 10-team competition.

It’s not the easiest thing to do and we end up with situations like this. If you lose one game, you don’t really get a chance to fix it. It’s tough because we now need to rely on other results if we are to go through.

Related: McDermott blames Rugby League World Cup format as England face exit

Should England beat Papua New Guinea by a margin of 68 points in Wollongong on Friday, a Tonga victory would allow McDermott’s side to sneak through to the semi-finals. If the winning margin is smaller than 68, they would need Tonga to pick up the slack in their own winning margin. Unlikely? Perhaps.

Related: England crush France by 82 points to keep Rugby League World Cup hopes alive

Knockout permutations

Pool A

  • If Australia beat Fiji and Cook Islands, as expected, they will top the group.

  • Assuming that is the case, the winner of New Zealand v Fiji will finish second and join the Kangaroos in the semi-finals.

Pool B

  • The winner of Tonga v Samoa will top the group and (probably) play New Zealand in the semi-finals.

  • If Samoa win, Tonga will qualifying in second place and face Australia.

  • If Tonga win, England could qualify in second place if they beat PNG and there is a cumulative differential swing of 68 points in their favour.

Round 2 Scores

  • Tonga 36-0 Lebanon

  • PNG 6-64 Samoa

  • England 82-0 France

  • New Zealand 82-16 Cook Islands

It has not been the most nail-biting of rounds so far with all the favourites winning handsomely. Cook Islands kept the Kiwis on their toes for 20 minutes but the Christchurch crowd were eventually treated to a comfortable victory. The other three victors have set up a grandstand finale next weekend.

Preamble

Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Australia v Fiji in the 2026 men’s Rugby League World Cup. Kick-off at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane is from 7.05pm local time (8.05pm AEDT/9.05am GMT).

I won’t patronise the Guardian’s esteemed readership by setting up this blog with any hint of jeopardy. Australia should win this match comfortably, perhaps even with a total that nudges the 99 the men’s cricket team cobbled together in Gqeberha the other day. In seven previous encounters between these sides the cumulative scoreline reads 378-24.

Nonetheless, with the Kangaroos coming into this World Cup without any trial matches, every fixture is significant for Kevin Walters and the players competing for spots in his starting XIII. The hosts looked rusty in their opening hit-out against the Kiwis and were fortunate to come away with a victory. Plenty of places are still up for grabs, meaning the focus should be sharp even during a routine pummelling.

Related: Nation-swappers show Rugby League World Cup is up for grabs in fiery opener | Angus Fontaine

James Tedesco in particular will be keen to make a statement at fullback, while Sam Walker and Tom Dearden will duel for the right to partner Cameron Munster in the halves during the knockout stages. The Kangaroos pack was monstered by its Kiwi counterparts last weekend, opening the door for someone like David Fifita to force his way into the reckoning.

Fiji’s young squad will rely on the experience of hooker Api Korisau and prop Jacob Saifiti to keep them competitive for as long as possible, and if they gain a foothold the likes of Kurt Donoghoe, Waqa Blake, and Sunia Turuva have the class to go toe-to-toe with their direct opponent.

The Bati made light work of Cook Islands in their opening match and another strong showing this evening could add a frisson of excitement to their clash with New Zealand next weekend, which the Kiwis must win to qualify for the semi-finals.

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.