As he walked from the field at CommBank Stadium after joining Toa Samoa players to thank fans for their support in Sunday’s Pacific Cup final, injured star Stephen Crichton told officials: “The World Cup is going to be huge”.

A month of top tier international fixtures had just come to an end with New Zealand’s 36-14 defeat of Samoa, but the focus quickly shifted to IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026 in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

With at least five nations capable of winning the Paul Barrière Trophy, anticipation for the World Cup has never been higher.

The Kiwis triumph in the Pacific Cup followed Australia’s completion of a 3-0 Ashes Series win in England earlier in the day and sets the scene for an epic clash between the trans-Tasman rivals at RLWC26.

New Zealand Kiwis Pacific Championships winners

New Zealand Kiwis, Pacific Championships winner.

Which team was more impressive? Who had tougher opposition or conditions to overcome? How would England have fared against Samoa or Tonga? What about PNG, who won the Pacific Bowl for a third consecutive season?

Samoa and Tonga fans produced an atmosphere at Suncorp Stadium during the tournament that few international sporting events could rival as international rugby league attendance records were broken.

The Pacific Championships, played over four weeks, was watched by crowds totalling 158,041 in Auckland, Brisbane, Port Moresby and Sydney, while the three Ashes Tests had a combined attendance of 132,418 in London, Everton and Leeds.

Add France's World Cup qualifier against Jamaica in Albi and the Women's World Series in Canada, which Fiji won to claim the last women's RLWC26 berth, and crowds for international fixtures topped 300,000 over four weeks.

With the Kangaroos and Kiwis having played on opposite sides of the globe, debate will rage about World Cup favouritism, but recent results suggest Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga or England could all win.

“The Kiwis are going to be very hard to beat,” Samoa coach Ben Gardiner said.

“They are one of the two leading nations in the world at the moment. Obviously Australia played the Test matches against England and New Zealand has just built through this tournament brilliantly.

“The first week they were a little bit clunky, like us, but then the last two weeks they have just been physical, they have been powerful through the middle, and they have been super hard to contain, so they are going to be a real challenge to deal with in the World Cup.”

The win was a massive turnaround in fortunes for the Kiwis after 12 months earlier playing in a promotion-relegation match against Papua New Guinea to retain their place in the top tier of the Pacific Championships.

After a narrow 24-18 defeat of Samoa in the tournament opener, New Zealand beat Tonga 40-14 and powered home against Gardiner’s men to overcome a 14-6 halftime deficit.

Kiwis skipper James Fisher-Harris pointed out they had done so without the services of star halfback Jahrome Hughes, forwards Leo Thompson and Griffin Neame, and others, including Ronaldo Mulitalo, Will Warbrick, Jeremy Marshall-King, Brandon Smith and Jordan Riki.

“We are building and obviously it is one step at a time, but our mission was to win this (Pacific Cup) and when next year comes we need to be ready,” Fisher-Harris said.

“In saying that, a lot of boys missed out on this campaign so that’s good for our team and a good headache to have.”

The Kiwis and Kangaroos also lost players who opted to play for their Pacific heritage, including Payne Haas and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (Samoa), and Robert Toia, Stefano Utoikamanu, Leka Halasima and Demetric Vaimauga (Tonga).

Fisher-Harris said the defections had galvanised the New Zealand squad, as it now comprised of players who “bleed black”.

However, the emergence of Samoa and Tonga has ensured international rugby league is now more competitive than ever before, with:

Samoa beating England in extra time to become the first Pacific nation to reach a World Cup final in 2022, and Australia edging New Zealand 16-14 in the other semi-final;
The Kiwis inflicting a record 30-0 defeat of the Kangaroos in the 2023 Pacific Cup final, while England beat Tonga in a three-Test series;

Tonga downing New Zealand 27-26 to qualify for the 2024 Pacific Cup final, losing 20-14 to Australia, while England beat Samoa in back-to-back Tests;

The Kiwis defeating Samoa 36-14 in the 2025 Pacific Cup final, while Australia triumphed 24-4, 14-4 and 30-8 in the three Ashes Tests against England.

The Kangaroos were without Liam Martin, Cameron Murray, Mitch Barnett, Xavier Coates, Zac Lomax, Latrell Mitchell and Tom Trbojevic for the Ashes campaign.

Tonga are also set to be boosted by the return of star secondrower Haumole Olakau'atu and centre Moses Suli for the World Cup, while prop Stefano Utoikamanu played just seven minutes of the Pacific Championships.

Samoa’s World Cup claims are strengthened when it is considered that Tabuai-Fidow, Crichton, Spencer Leniu and Shawn Blore missed the Pacific Championships, while Jeremiah Nanai was ruled out of the final.

“It’s very exciting, we have got bigger and better things coming up ahead. We are looking towards the future so I can’t wait,” star winger Brian To’o said.