Samoa and Tonga enjoyed big wins as they march towards their highly anticipated showdown at CommBank Stadium in Round 3 while England kept their hopes alive with a dominant 82-0 victory over France.

On the back of a Herbie Farnworth hat-trick and a whopping 11 tackle breaks by Dom Young, England racked up a 24th consecutive Test win over France and will need a similar performance against the Kumuls next week to stay in the hunt for the title.

Should they get the job done on Friday night the English will then be cheering for a Tonga win over Samoa by a healthy margin to give them a shot at sneaking into the semi-finals.

A win by Samoa would effectively end England's chances as it would leave Tonga and England equal on four points and Kristian Woolf's men would march on courtesy of their victory over England in Perth in Round 1.

Tournament rules state that if a team from Group B and a team from Group C are level on points, the head-to-head result of their match will determine the highest ranked team on the combined ladder.

Meanwhile in Pool A, the Kangaroos secured their semi-final berth with a hard-fought 36-22 win over a gutsy Fiji Bati in Brisbane.

The Bati led 16-12 after 45 minutes and looked to be on track for a famous victory before Kangaroos skipper James Tedesco and debutant Sam Walker steadied the ship and got the world champions home.

Australia's semi-final will take place on Sunday November 8 at Allianz Stadium as part of a double-header with the Jillaroos.

The other semi-finalist from Pool A will come down to a shootout between New Zealand and Fiji this Saturday at Cbus Super Stadium.

The Kiwis bounced back from a Round 1 loss to Australia with a thumping 82-16 win over Cook Islands with Jamayne Isaako bagging 38 points to set a new record for most points in a Test match by a Kiwi.

Winger Ronaldo Mulitalo, centre Casey McLean and debutant Tanner Stowers-Smith all scored doubles as the Kiwis put on a show for the Christchurch faithful.

Local hero Stowers-Smith produced a sensational debut with 177 run metres and seven tackle breaks to go with his try double.

With the Kiwis and Fiji now sitting on one win and one loss apiece, their clash on the Gold Coast will decide who keeps their World Cup dreams alive and who heads home.

Tonga v Lebanon, Friday 8.05pm AEDT at CommBank Stadium, Sydney

Tonga 36 bt Lebanon 0 - 23-Oct-2026

PNG v Samoa, Saturday 3.25pm AEDT at Santos National Football Stadium, Port Moresby

Samoa 64 bt PNG 6 - 24-Oct-2026