Australia survive Fiji scare to reach Women's Rugby League World Cup final

Australia reached the Women's Rugby League World Cup final by beating Fiji 30-14 at Sydney Football Stadium and will meet New Zealand in the title match next Sunday in Brisbane, kicking off at 05:10 GMT.

Australia have reached their fifth successive Women's Rugby League World Cup final as they seek a fourth consecutive title, having appeared to dominate the tournament after breezing through the group stages; World Cup debutants Fiji, who had given New Zealand a scare in their opening match before losing 18-12, produced a sustained challenge in Sydney.

Fiji opened the scoring for the first time against Australia in this tournament when Simaima Taufa conceded a penalty under the posts after 12 minutes and the visitors opted to kick for two points; four minutes later captain Sereana Naitokatoka stole the ball from Jaime Chapman 10 metres from the Australia line and Fiji drove through the defence for half-back Luisa Yaranamua to score, her conversion making it 8-0.

Australia responded with two tries in the final 10 minutes of the opening half to draw level before the break: Abbi Church drove over in the right corner and Tamika Upton slipped through the defence following a Fiji drop-out, but Jocelyn Kelleher missed both conversion attempts and the teams went in level at half-time; had Upton not tipped a Fiji grubber behind, Australia would have trailed at the interval.

Order was restored in the second half as Australia took control, with Church scoring multiple times to put the match beyond reach; the report notes "Abbi Church (left) scored a hat-trick against Fiji - she now has seven tries in four 2026 World Cup matches," and later describes Church completing a treble with a brilliant catch from a booming Tarryn Aiken kick to the corner before grounding the ball at full tilt, either side of Jaime Chapman diving over.

Fiji added a late try through Maria Paseka, and Church had the final score after collecting Losana Lutu's kick around 30 metres from her own line and racing clear to score, leaving the final whistle at 30-14. The match scoring summary listed Australia tries as Church 4, Upton and Chapman with Kelleher kicking three goals; Fiji tries were Yaranamua and Paseka with Yaranamua kicking three goals.

Australia will face old rivals New Zealand in the final next Sunday in Brisbane at 05:10 GMT.