Pacific Island teams fall short in RLWC semifinals despite historic campaigns

The four Pacific Island teams in the 2026 Rugby League World Cup semifinals all bowed out of finals contention over the weekend.

While there was general disappointment they could not reach the final, the overall consensus has been that their different campaigns had been the best and that the future looks brighter than ever.

Fetu Samoa and the Fiji Bulikula were first timers in the women's competition semifinals.

The Samoa women's team were making their appearance at the event after 18 years, while their Fijian sisters made their first-ever world cup.

Both reaching the semifinals was history in the making.

In the men's competition, both the Toa Sama and Tonga XIII teams were making their second appearances in the semifinals, with Samoa chasing a possible second consecutive final appearance.

However, their campaigns ended at the weekend.

Fetu Samoa lost the New Zealand Kiwi Ferns on Friday night while the Bulikula went down to the Australian Jillaroos on Sunday night in Sydney.

Tonga fell short against the Kiwis on Saturday, while Toa Samoa also fell in the end against defending champions Australia.

Bulikula happy

Fiji Bulikula captain Sereana Naitokatoka said while the Jillaroos won their clash, the Fijians were satisfied with their campaign.

The side scored two tries against the champion Jillaroos, despite losing 30-14.

She said their focus in the match was to go out and enjoy themselves, knowing full well that the battle to win was going to be tough.

"I'm so happy, to be honest, what a game!" she told the post-match press conference after their 30-14 loss to the Jillaroos.

"It was so exciting, we just had fun, and I know that everybody enjoyed watching that.

"We only had one goal, and that was to come out here and have fun playing against the best in the world. And we're so blessed and grateful to be part of this World Cup as a team, representing our nations, our family back home, and everybody connected to us."

Naitokatoka said her message to the players was simple - have fun and enjoy the moments.

"I said to the girls in this circle, I think the team that's going to be coming out of this more happier is the one that's going to enjoy playing and having fun, not thinking too much, just run hard, play hard.

"That was our goal when we did it, and I did not see one dropped face out of any of the girls. Everyone came out there happy, knowing they've put their best throughout the whole 70 minutes."

Head coach Jone Wesele praised his players, adding they lived through the campaign with their focus of three pillars, which were stay connected, be skilful and be selfless.

He said the Bulikula have proven a point to the rugby league world.

"That's something that really came out again today," the former Fiji Bati player told the media.

"Their relentless effort, knowing that they are playing against a team who can strike anywhere in the field.

"Our girls really made them run for their money, and they did make a statement today, and they've showed the world of rugby league that they are not just here to make numbers."

He said he was proud of the team, especially in giving their all throughout their campaign.

Fiji Bulikula won matches against Papua New Guinea and France, while they were pipped by New Zealand in their opening pool match.

Their semifinal appearance means they have also qualified for the next world cup in 2030, having had to qualify for this world cup through a repecharge system, after they had lost the Oceania spot to Fetu Samoa.

Fetu Samoa mistakes

Fetu Samoa head coach Frank Pritchard said their campaign was a success but admitted his disappointment at the mistakes the team made against New Zealand on Saturday morning in Newcastle.

The Kiwi Ferns won 32-0.

Pritchard said it was tough losing because they had prepared for success and possibly making the final.

"Was it eight nil the first half, and a couple of errors in the second half," he said.

"But that's footy, you know, we just got to compete to the end here.

"We can say that was successful campaign, but it was probably a tough day today because it wasn't how we trained all week and you know we didn't expect that.

"We're probably our own worst enemy today.

"We had 76 possession in that first half, first three errors were from our own mistakes, so you know just compounded stuff.

"So, to to compete and fight in the game, it was hard, but you know our girls, you know, we stayed in there. We competed, we just got to be better at the little things. "

He applauded the Kiwi Ferns for their win "they came out with game plan and stuck with it, and it'll be a tough grand final next week for both teams".

Pritchard said the future of the game is brighter for Samoa, with pathways and development plans set in place.

The bulk of their team is made up of players within the 20 to 23 year olds, as he pointed to their mission of putting Samoa on the rugby league map.

"We came into camp with the mission to come away and be successful and you know to put our little nation on the map and you know last week was a milestone for us, making a bit of history.

"We'll take a lot from this, big learning curve for us, and you know, we're a young team.

"The future is bright for us. I haven't had a chance to talk to the team yet but I'll tell them how proud I am. Proud coach, proud Samoan. Yeah, I'm proud of the girls. Proud of the efforts.

"We got good pathways with our chapters here in here in New South Wales and Queensland, so, we know what's coming through with talent.

"Only last week we were ranked fifth. We'll take all the positives that come with it, the journey through the World Cup has been great."

Captain Evania Isaʻako said they have made their own history during the world cup, even with a young squad.

"The little wins we've had on the field made history," she said.

"We are such a young group, and we definitely battled above our weight grade here.

"And you can't compete with the top two teams, but they've been together for a really long time and we've got girls here who made their first debut in this jersey and their debut World Cup.

"I just want to shout out a massive credit to those girls and were were successful, and today doesn't define our campaign."

Fetu Samoa lost to the Jillaroos in their opening pool match but defeated both Wales and England to book their semifinal spot.

Toa Samoa discipline

Toa Samoa co-captain Junior Paulo knows the code's future is in good hands and applauded his players despite the disappointment of falling short to the Kangaroos in the semifinals on Sunday night.

The Kangaroos won 44-12.

Paulo thanked divine intervention, fans, families and the government of Samoa for all the support they had received, despite the unfortunate semifinal loss to the Kangaroos.

"I want to thank our Lord, the man upstairs, for bringing us all here," he said.

"Most of all, I want to thank our fans. Despite the result today, it's still 685 to the world from the start.

"We spoke about that it was always for the culture, and we wouldn't change a thing. To the boys, there's not a bunch of other blokes that I want to take the field with, so we'll ride it.

"We'll ride it till the wheels fall off. So, love to all our people, especially to everyone that's turned out tonight during the conditions."

Paulo said they knew what they were capable of at the start of their campaign and applauded the Kangaroos for their win.

"We're unfortunate tonight," he said.

"That's a credit to the Aussie boys for turning up the way they did and putting out that performance.

"It was always going to be tough, but we wish them all the best next week. And you know, like I said Samoa's future is in good hands, so we look forward to it."

Head coach Ben Gardiner pointed to the lack of discipline and the bad start they had as factors that led to their semifinal loss.

"It was just not a great start to the game and the the back-to-back errors and penalties cost us in the first half," he said.

"It just led to tries, and when you put in that position where that goes against you so much at the start of the game, and then you're chasing points.

"It just gets a little bit too difficult to come back from."

Gardiner said there were also some controversial bunker calls during the game that went against his side.

Toa Samoa won two pool games against Papua New Guinea and France but lost to Tonga.

However, they qualified along with Tonga for the semifinals because of better points average ahead of England.

Mixed feelings for Tonga

Tonga head coach Kristina Woolf said "it was obviously a disappointing way to finish", after the 34-10 loss to New Zealand in Newcastle on Saturday.

But he added the team has had an outstanding World Cup.

"Have been really happy with everything that we've done and the way the way the players have carried themselves and represented their nation, it's been outstanding to be a part of," he said.

"You can feel the disappointment in there, and there's a quiet change room there for a long time. Everyone knows there's a bit of a missed opportunity with what the group's been able to do, and how talented the group is, and some of the footy we've played, it's a bit of a missed opportunity.

"But we just couldn't get it done tonight, and that's important we recognise that, and we're going to learn from that.

"But at the same time, like I said before, we've had four outstanding weeks together, and it's a group that's really come together well, really played well, represented their nation really well, and I think everyone should be really proud of.

"Once upon a time, we're happy just to be in the finals and be competitive, and now we see ourselves as real players that we believe we can win it. We just haven't been able to produce that."

He also pointed to the windy conditions that hit Newcastle in the second half of the game on Saturday, which forced a couple of errors for his side, especially defending against high kicks.

"We just didn't handle the conditions as well as they did in the second half," he said.

"And I think whoever's against the win in the second half is going to find it tough, and we just need to handle it a little bit better.

"It was hard, we just couldn't get past halfway, and as I said, they handled the conditions a little bit better than we did, and they deserve credit there. And we ended up under too much pressure in the end."

Co-captain Jason Taumalolo, who led the switch to Tonga from star players in 2017, said they made it a competition right up to halftime against the Kiwis, who handled the conditions a lot better.

However, despite the result, he was proud of the team.

"We looked a bit lost a couple of times there. But you know, to be in a World Cup semi-final is an achievement in itself," he stated.

"This camp we've had has been one of the best camps I've been involved with. The playing group, the staff have been second to none.

"I've enjoyed every part of it. We just couldn't get the result tonight, we couldn't get past halfway, and that's always going to put us under a lot of pressure, and you know when you're giving guys like Jerome Hughes and Ponga more time and possession, obviously they're going to put some points on you.

"But we did well to defend most of most of the plays, you know, but when you're under pressure that much, you kind of put pressure on yourselves."

Tonga won three out of three in pool play and won the 'Battle of the Pacific' against Samoa, topping the combined Pool B and C to secure their semifinal spot.

The finals this upcoming weekend will feature a double header between Australia and New Zealand in both the men and women's competitions.

Johnson frustrated

Meanwhile, a frustrated Shaun Johnson had told the media in Sydney he believes Samoa were "hard done by" in their defeat against the Kangaroos.

He has blasted out referee Adam Gee and questioned some major calls in the disappointing loss.

Samoa were controversially denied two tries by the Bunker, while the Aussies were awarded four more penalties on a wet night at Allianz Stadium.

Crichton's four-pointer in the first half was taken away after video official Chris Butler ruled Francis Manuleleua had knocked the ball into Reece Walsh.

That viewpoint differed from Roosters coach Trent Robinson on commentary.

"It's clearly a knock back," he said on Seven.

A second-half try, which wouldn't have impacted the result, was denied after on-field referee Gee ruled that Manuleleua had obstructed Liam Martin.

The Bunker official agreed, sticking with the no-try decision.

Johnson described the call as "diabolical".

"I don't want to take anything away from what the Aussies produced but I can't help but have this frustration around how the game was officiated," he said.

"I feel like Adam Gee got calls wrong and he was confusing in some of his calls and gave Australia the rub of the green tonight. They just got every little call.

"I can understand refs are humans and I can understand getting calls wrong at the moment. What I can't understand is going to someone who has all the technology at their disposal and overturning a call or giving an explanation on a call ... that's just incorrect. That's what I'm frustrated by.

"I feel like Samoa were hard done by. They did not get a fair shot through some of these calls. Very frustrated at the officiating."