Ireland beat Wales 68–28, France beat New Zealand 120–10 and Australia beat Scotland 104–24 to join England in the semi-finals. The final group games will decide the pairings.
England secured a place in the 2026 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup semi-finals with a 134–0 win over the USA. Ireland, France and host Australia also qualified, leaving the final group games to determine the knockout pairings rather than who advances.
England beat France 28–24 in the previous final on 18 November 2022. England has reached the final in all four previous editions, while France has won two titles.
| Winner | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|
| England | USA | 134–0 |
| Ireland | Wales | 68–28 |
| France | New Zealand | 120–10 |
| Australia | Scotland | 104–24 |
Luis Domingos scored 4 tries on his first appearance at the tournament, as did Chris Haynes and England captain Mason Billington. Domingos previously played international basketball for Portugal and now plays rugby league for Sheffield Eagles and England.
Finlay O’Neill was player of the match with 38 points from two tries and 15 conversions, the kicks taken after tries. He said England had improved as a team but still had areas to work on.
Ireland surpass their previous scoring record of 92 points against Scotland in the 2025 Celtic Cup. Defending champions England beat Wales 98–18 to open their title defense.
Billington rated the performance at least seven out of 10 and said his players had stuck to their principles. After the opening 98–18 win over Wales, teammate Rob Hawkins had said England were not playing to their standards and rated that performance five out of 10.
England play Ireland in Wollongong on Friday at 06:00 GMT (10:00 Yerevan time). France play Australia on Friday to determine their group winner; England will face one of those two teams in the semi-finals next week.
Wales play the USA on Friday, while Scotland face New Zealand. All four will then enter a ranking competition for fifth through eighth place.
2 min
Samoa beats England 24–6 to reach the semi-finals and eliminate England. Australia beats Wales 124–6, with Jaime Chapman scoring six tries, having already qualified to face Fiji. The Guardian says the win sets women’s World Cup score and margin records; its 124 points are an international high, while its 118-point margin is a women’s international record but falls short of France men’s overall record.
3 min
New Zealand beat Fiji 78–0, Australia beat Cook Islands 66–6 to top Pool A, and Tonga beat Samoa 20–18, eliminating England despite its 34–12 win over Papua New Guinea. Australia also beat Wales 124–6 with 21 tries, a score BBC Sport describes as an international record.
1 min
