Sport WorldBriefRugby Checked story Published 12 November 2026 · Updated 12 Nov, 18:49 UTC

Rugby League World Cup finals: New Zealand face Australia in both finals at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday

Finals Sunday is set at the Rugby League World Cup. The Kiwi Ferns play the Australian Jillaroos in the women's final and the Kiwis play Australia in the men's final, both at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Sunday 15 November 2026, New Zealand Rugby League has announced. The women's final kicks off at 3:10pm local time and the men's final at 6:35pm. New Zealand have named their men's team with one change — Ronaldo Mulitalo returns — and the Kiwi Ferns squad is unchanged.

Verified Finals Sunday at the Rugby League World Cup 2026: the women's final, New Zealand's Kiwi Ferns against Australia's Jillaroos, and the men's final, the New Zealand Kiwis against Australia, are both at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Sunday 15 November 2026. The women's final kicks off at 3:10pm local time (6:10pm in New Zealand) and the men's final at 6:35pm local time (9:35pm in New Zealand).

Key points

Women's final: Kiwi Ferns v Jillaroos, 3:10pm local time, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Sunday 15 November.
Men's final: Kiwis v Australia, 6:35pm local time, same stadium, same day.
Ronaldo Mulitalo returns in the only change to the Kiwis' starting team; the Kiwi Ferns squad is unchanged.

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A fifth straight women's final between the two countries — and both sides chase a fourth title.

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What happened

The two semi-final rounds set up a trans-Tasman double-header to finish the tournament: New Zealand beat Tonga in the men's semi-final and Samoa 32–0 in the women's, while Australia beat Samoa 44–12 in the men's semi-final and Fiji 30–14 in the women's.

Both sides, in their own words

Both sides heard. Neither believed for free. Publishing a side's version is not endorsing it — the claim checks below are where verdicts live.

Side A · New Zealand

The Kiwis are in their first men's World Cup final since 2013, and the Kiwi Ferns are in a seventh successive women's final — the only team to have appeared in every women's final.
Kalyn Ponga and Stacey Waaka go into Finals Sunday as the 2026 International Rugby League Golden Boot winners, the sport's best international players of the year.

Side B · Australia

Australia won both semi-finals by wide margins — 44–12 over Samoa in the men's tournament and 30–14 over Fiji in the women's.
The Jillaroos have held the top spot in the women's game in recent years, and both women's finalists are chasing a fourth World Cup title.

Independently verified

4 claims independently verified — listed in the claim-by-claim check below.

Not yet verified

Nothing outstanding.

Match facts — all verified

✓ VerifiedFinals Sunday at the Rugby League World Cup 2026: the women's final, New Zealand's Kiwi Ferns against Australia's Jillaroos, and the men's final, the New Zealand Kiwis against Australia, are both at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Sunday 15 November 2026. The women's final kicks off at 3:10pm local time (6:10pm in New Zealand) and the men's final at 6:35pm local time (9:35pm in New Zealand).New Zealand Rugby League — Finals Sunday, official announcement and team lists
✓ VerifiedNew Zealand have named their men's team for the final with one change from the semi-final: left winger Ronaldo Mulitalo returns to the starting lineup.New Zealand Rugby League — Finals Sunday, official announcement and team lists
✓ VerifiedThe Kiwi Ferns squad for the women's final is unchanged. It is the fifth consecutive women's World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia, and both sides are chasing a fourth title.New Zealand Rugby League — Finals Sunday, official announcement and team lists
✓ VerifiedNew Zealand reached the men's final by beating Tonga in the semi-final — the Kiwis' first men's World Cup final since 2013 — and the Kiwi Ferns reached the women's final by beating Samoa 32–0.New Zealand Rugby League — Finals Sunday, official announcement and team lists

What we know / what we don't know yet

What we know

Both finals, the venue and the kick-off times, from New Zealand Rugby League's official announcement.
New Zealand's named teams: one change for the Kiwis, an unchanged Kiwi Ferns squad.

What we don't know yet

Australia's named lineups for the two finals — they were not carried in the announcement read for this brief.

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VerifiedManchester United announced on Thursday that Michael Carrick has departed his role as men's first-team head coach. In its statement the club said: “After a disappointing start to the season, the club has come to the extremely difficult conclusion that a change is necessary in order to achieve our ambitions.” It called Carrick “a Manchester United legend” and said it “intends to appoint a permanent successor as quickly as possible”. No successor was named.
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VerifiedCarrick rejoined United in January as interim head coach and guided the team to a third-placed Premier League finish, winning 12 of the remaining 17 league games. He was appointed permanently in May on a two-year contract running to 2028.

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VerifiedThe Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres 8–3 at KeyBank Center on Wednesday 11 November 2026 in an NHL regular-season game. Tampa Bay led 4–0 in the second period on goals by Scott Sabourin (18:49 of the first), John Carlson (19:38, power play), Brandon Hagel (4:33 of the second) and Yanni Gourde (13:02); Buffalo replied through Josh Doan (power play, 15:54) and Jason Zucker late in the second, and Tage Thompson cut it to 4–3 just 33 seconds into the third.
VerifiedNikita Kucherov scored a natural hat trick in the third period — at 1:25, 4:11 and 14:13 — and assisted on Brandon Hagel's goal at 15:06 that made it 8–3, a four-point night with every point in the third period. It was the third natural hat trick of Kucherov's career, the most in Lightning history, and his eighth hat trick overall.
VerifiedJohn Carlson scored once and added four assists for the first five-point game of his career; his fifth point was the 800th of his NHL career, making him the fifth US-born defenseman to reach that mark. Jake Guentzel had four assists, a career high, Anthony Cirelli three assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

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