Reece Walsh hat-trick propels Australia to 44-12 World Cup semi-final win over Samoa

Reece Walsh scored three tries as Australia beat Samoa 44-12 in Sydney on 8 November 2026 to reach a 16th successive men's Rugby League World Cup final. His two second-half scores helped quell a Samoan fightback while his first-half try and celebration drew attention from the crowd and officials.

Walsh's opening effort came on 32 minutes when he squeezed through a tiny gap on the left to score and celebrated with a backflip in front of approximately 40,000 spectators, during which he lost a boot. The full-back has been described by Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys as "the Justin Bieber of rugby league" and "charisma on steroids"; Australia coach Kevin Walters said there would be no backflips in the second half and Walsh subsequently restrained himself.

The match featured moments that favoured Walsh as well as errors that troubled his coach. Two minutes before Walsh's first try, Samoa's Stephen Crichton appeared to have grounded to reduce the deficit to 16-6 after Francis Manuleleua beat Walsh to a high ball, but a slow-motion replay led to the debatable conclusion Manuleleua had knocked on. A major flashpoint came later when Walsh was ruled to have been dangerously tackled; television replays showed Walsh himself instigated the ruck after that incident.

Walsh responded directly to Samoa's scores, keeping them at arm's length while completing his first international hat-trick for Australia. Crichton did score in the second half after Walsh dropped a bomb, underlining the balance of magic and mistakes in Walsh's performance that continues to shape selection debates at full-back.

Walters defended Walsh's impact and idiosyncrasies in post-match remarks, saying: "That's just Reece," and adding, "He always brings up something you don't expect." On the backflip he commented: "The backflip was no different. Impressive though. He did it for some sick kids. They all asked him to do a backflip if he scored a try, so you can't really be against that when he's putting a smile on kids' faces." When pressed about errors, Walters reiterated: "That's Reece," and said: "He brings great stuff to the team. "His catching of the high ball, it's difficult and sometimes you don't get a hold of them. He didn't tonight but it's not really anything we've got too much concern with."

Australia maintained a 100% record at this tournament, having scored 170 points across four matches, and Walsh has five tries in three matches at the World Cup. The Kangaroos' last defeat at a World Cup remains the 2008 final loss to New Zealand; since then Australia have won 22 consecutive games and the past three tournaments.

New Zealand full-back Kalyn Ponga returned for his side's semi-final against Tonga and produced a man-of-the-match display after having battled on with a broken arm in the 24-22 opening defeat by Australia. In that opener on 15 October Walsh made a try-saving tackle on Ponga and later produced a 60-metre burst to set up the Kangaroos' last-gasp victory; Walters also recalled Walsh had not played for eight weeks before the World Cup because of an ankle injury and said afterwards the player had been "vomiting in the changing room" because of the effort.

Samoa reached only their second ever Rugby League World Cup semi-final but saw a second successive tournament ended by Australia after a 30-10 semi-final loss four years ago. The nations have met six times with Australia winning all six; Samoa were angered by several refereeing decisions, including two disallowed tries — Crichton in the first half and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow with 10 minutes to go after contact between Manuleleua and Liam Martin was deemed illegal — and Spencer Leniu was sin-binned for dissent by Australian referee Adam Gee. Samoa coach Ben Gardiner responded tersely to questions about the decisions: "You guys saw the game. You report on it," and when asked if his side cost themselves with a lack of discipline said, "I'm not quite sure." He added: "On the back of some of the penalties that were given, we just didn't react very well. There was one thing into another and then a try. It made it difficult to be able to fight back from that. "And then to be down by 18 points, 20 points at half-time, to chase back from that... I thought we did well in the second half to fight back. "But then again, we scored a try and gave up another one straight away. We bounced off too many tackles in that early period, missed too many tackles in the game in general. "That had nothing to do with the emotion. That's a Test match, that's what you do. It's physical, there's push and shove, stand your ground."

Australia will face New Zealand in Brisbane next Sunday in the World Cup final match-up set by the semi-final results; Walters reflected on Ponga's form, saying: "We all know Kalyn. "He's a world-class player; he showed that last night. "For the players, it's been about what we can do as a team. If we get that right, I'm happy with that."