Australia’s Jillaroos scored six tries in the first 32 minutes in Brisbane on Sunday and beat New Zealand 34-10 to win the Women’s Rugby League World Cup for a fourth straight time. That is now the most titles of any nation; the Kiwi Ferns, beaten again, still have three.
The setting made it sweeter. Lang Park, the stadium locals call Suncorp Stadium, is where New Zealand thrashed Australia 34-0 in the 2008 final, the last time the Ferns lifted the trophy. Eighteen years later the same ground hosted a 34-point first half from the home side.
Winger Jaime Chapman led the way with a hat trick inside the opening half hour and was named player of the match. She ends the event with 13 tries from five games, four clear of New Zealand’s Stacey Waaka. Shaylee Bent, Jessica Sergis and Tamika Upton scored the others, and Jesse Southwell converted five of six.
Over by halftime
It was 34-6 at the break, with Shannon Mato’s 23rd-minute try the lone reply. Neither defense gave much after that. Australia were held scoreless in the second half, and Mackenzie Wiki’s try with one minute left in the 70-minute contest only trimmed the margin.
Rugby league, for American readers
US fans who know rugby from the Olympics are watching rugby union, the 15-a-side code. League is the 13-player version that split away in 1895, and it plays more like American football. The team with the ball gets six tackles, a close cousin of downs, before it must give the ball back, and play restarts after every tackle rather than turning into a scrum-like pileup. A try is worth four points in league against five in union, and a conversion kick adds two in both. Australia’s 34 points came from six tries and five conversions.
Women’s games at this World Cup ran 10 minutes shorter than the standard 80, matching Australia’s domestic NRLW league.
How dominant was Australia
- Group stage: 40-0 over Samoa, 78-0 over England and 124-6 over Wales.
- Semifinal: 30-14 over Fiji in Sydney, tied 8-8 at halftime before Abbi Church finished with four tries.
- Final: 34-10 over New Zealand in Brisbane.
Add those up and Australia scored 306 points and allowed 30 in five matches, an average winning margin of 55.2 points a game. Fiji, playing in its first World Cup, was the only side to reach halftime level with the champions.
From the Ferns’ era to the Jillaroos’ run
New Zealand won the first three women’s World Cups, in 2000, 2003 and 2008. Australia’s run began in Leeds in 2013 with a 22-12 win, then came a 23-16 final in Brisbane in 2017 and a 54-4 rout at Old Trafford in Manchester in late 2022, the delayed 2021 edition. Every one of those last four finals was against New Zealand.
This tournament nearly did not happen on schedule. France was meant to host in 2025 but withdrew in 2023, and the event moved to Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea a year later with eight teams.
The women’s final rounded off a big week for the sport. England beat France 50-38 in Wollongong to win the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup for a third time, and over in the 15-a-side code Wales ended a long wait with a 35-28 win over the All Blacks in Cardiff.
The next women’s World Cup is set for 2030 in the United States, where Australia will chase a fifth title in a row.
Further reading
Image: Fleets, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. How we work.
