The Kangaroos hit form in their semi-final win over Samoa, who arrived in a blaze of Pasifika passion but exited after being outplayed in Sydney
Although the hopes of Samoan fans were washed away like tears in Sydney’s rain, the true triumph of their World Cup campaign – and that of fellow semi-finalists Tonga – will endure. Both tiny island nations were represented with pride and passion in this tournament, with huge mobs of happy supporters trailing them around the nation.
Their players – a diamond-league diaspora of NRL stars honouring ancestral ties – have served that fanbase nobly this past month. But ultimately, the emotion of serving those supporters got the better of both sides as their bigger Pacific brothers, Australia and New Zealand, won through to the final on maturity and composure.
Allianz Stadium was a roiling ocean of Samoan flags on Sunday night. The red of courage and sacrifice and aiga (extended family) was everywhere with the blue of the Pacific. Those flags never stopped moving through Lapi Mariner’s rendition of the anthem and the Samoan players let the tears fall, faces crumpling as the fan chorus swelled.
Then came the Toa Siva Tau, the prayer circle that becomes a battle cry. “Samoa! Ready for the war! Fight fiercely! Work to achieve! The Manu! Let’s go!” Now the flow of tears became the flight of spittle as they laid down the lore to the Kangaroos who met the challenge in boomerang formation as they will the haka next weekend.
But Sunday night was different. As the blue hordes crossed halfway and entered the home side’s personal space the men in green and gold contracted and advanced. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui went nose to nose with Brian To’o. Jazz Tevaga bristled under Jack Bostock’s chin. Latrell Mitchell looked beyond the challenge to the horizon.
After such a dramatic prelude, the first try was eerily easy. Samoa were watching Reece Walsh wind-up in the backfield so Tom Dearden simply drifted, dummied then darted past Tevaga to score. Then Jarome Luai muffed the dropout, leaving Keaon Koloamatangi to charge, flex and slip an inside ball for Jacob Preston to cross. For Samoa, emotions became errors.
Australia, flat and disjointed in their opening games, suddenly looked their old selves. Cam Munster was crabbing then stabbing into space, Tom Trbojevic followed from afar, latching on to every floated pass out wide. Off the bench, Cameron Murray piled up post-contact metres and Pat Carrigan’s explosive entrance forced two fast errors.
In the coaching box, Kangaroos boss Kevin Walters barely moved. He coaches this squad like he’s hosting a barbecue, confident in the prime beef he’s working with, content to simply keep his men on a slow sizzle, rotating and resting when needed. His players are the party-starters. He just issues the invites and lets them alchemise.
Walters’ old school cool was duly reflected in a five tries-to-one scoreline at half-time. In the earlier game, the Jillaroos had been rattled early by Fiji and were forced to activate their bench stars early to reel back an 0-8 deficit. Samoa arrived with plenty of emotion but also errors and the Kangaroos simply cantered to 26-2.
Even with the game slipping from their grasp, Samoan fans never stopped smiling. Few nations dance in the rain better than the Manu. The reggae percussion jangled and their homemade signs proclaimed the virtues of taro and spam over Vegemite. Their good cheer turned to luck when Walsh spilt a bomb and Crichton swooped.
Walsh atoned a few minutes later with a try that restored the 24-point margin. The little fullback won man-of-the-match and continues to personify Walters’ penchant to pick on reputation not form. Less than half the Kangaroos played finals football this year and James Tedesco, captain of the 2026 premiers, had been omitted entirely.
Walters has plenty of champions in his squad. His job is to build a champion team. Slowly but surely it’s coming together. However, for all their improvement, Australia won’t go into next weekend’s final as favourites. New Zealand are the ones running hot and their own fullback, Kalyn Ponga, has claims as the greatest in the game.
Ponga was denied a grand final victory by a single point and the league gods then doubled down, conspiring to break his arm in the first round of this tournament. In that game, Ponga and Walsh had played out one of the most epic duels in Test history. Each man saved, scored and set-up a fusillade of tries in bravura showings.
Miraculously, Ponga returned this weekend to lead New Zealand’s semi-final win over Tonga and set the stage for a return bout against Walsh in Sunday’s World Cup final. There will be plenty of emotion when he and Walsh meet at Sunday’s big dance, but that alone won’t win a World Cup. Cool heads must prevail when the fire’s hottest.
