Round 3 of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup kicks off with England needing to beat Papua New Guinea to stay in contention for a final four spot, and the Kumuls looking to finish their campaign on a high with a good performance.
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Men’s Rugby League World Cup
- England vs Papua New Guinea → england-vs-papua-new-guinea-rlwc-preview-2026
- New Zealand vs Fiji → new-zealand-vs-fiji-rlwc-preview-2026
- Australia vs Cook Islands → australia-vs-cook-islands-rlwc-preview-2026
- Tonga vs Samoa → tonga-vs-samoa-rlwc-preview-2026
Matchday Details
Friday, 30 October 2026 – 8:05pm (AEDT) – WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Referee: Gerard Sutton | Senior Review Official: Todd Smith
England: 1. AJ Brimson, 2. Dominic Young, 3. Hugo Savala, 4. Herbie Farnworth, 5. Matty Ashton, 6. George Williams (c), 7. Harry Smith, 8. Max King, 9. Jez Litten, 10. Luke Thompson, 11. Junior Nsemba, 12. Kai Pearce-Paul, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Mikey Lewis, 15. Sam Walters, 16. Ethan Havard, 17. Victor Radley, 18. Ben Currie, 19. Jack Welsby, R. Brad O’Neill, R. Zach Eckersley, R. Kallum Watkins
Papua New Guinea: 1. Zac Laybutt, 2. Robert Derby, 3. Josh Feledy, 4. Nene Macdonald, 5. Dudley Dotoi, 6. Gairo Voro, 7. Bailey Biondi-Odo, 8. Epel Kapinias, 9. Edwin Ipape, 10. Luca Moretti, 11. Rhyse Martin (c), 12. Nixon Putt, 13. Liam Horne, 14. Finley Glare, 15. Jacob Taulani, 16. Robert Mathias, 17. Sanny Wabo, 18. Valentine Richard, 19. Zev John, R. Morea Morea, R. Rodrick Tai, R. Alex Max
Match Preview
This is a game that looks one-sided on paper, and that is highly likely given most of the results last weekend, but perhaps the PNG Kumuls aren’t as bad as last weekend’s, and maybe England’s 82 points flattered them a little due to the French not putting up much resistance. For all of PNG’s faults, effort is usually not one aspect of their game that is often debated.
Maybe that’s just wishful thinking as someone who enjoys watching PNG rugby league though. Despite the Kumuls throwing everything at Samoa in defence in that first half, they eventually accumulated more than 100 combined missed or ineffective tackles last weekend, and as England showed last weekend, they can turn on the points as good as any of the other teams. Although it did take until the 22nd minute for their first score, which puts their 82 points in the next 58 minutes into some perspective.
That was helped by the English backline fielding genuine quality NRL talent: not only do they have arguably the best centre in the game, but they had AJ Brimson in his best position at fullback, Hugo Savala is an NRL premiership winner, and Dom Young is a consistent top try scorer in the NRL. Brimson had five line breaks alone last weekend against France, which is three more than PNG’s total from Round 2, he scored a try, and had three try assists. Herbie Farnworth had nine tackle breaks, and he was the leader for that category in the NRL in 2026, and scored three tries. Young topped last weekend with 11 tackle breaks, ran for over 200 metres, and scored three tries. Big numbers from their big players.
But the PNG backline held their own for a while against Samoa, with Townsville Blackhawks flyer Dudley Dotoi looking electric at times, and he has done himself no harm at this World Cup with a certain new side joining the NRL in 2028 that probably need a little more home grown talent. Having NRL and Super League experience in the centres and at fullback with this weekend’s team changes will give the Kumuls a little more starch to keep the English side from scoring for as long as possible.
England have the advantage in the forward pack as well, but it doesn’t feel as superior compared to the Kumuls as the backline does. There’s still NRL and great Super League experience with the likes of Max King, Kai Pearce-Paul, and Morgan Knowles, but PNG’s pack also have plenty to offer at their best. Rhyse Martin is a very experienced, quality player, and some kind of goal kicker. Epel Kapinias and Nixon Putt have been quite impressive this World Cup so far, and in Luca Moretti they have some NRL experience.
The most interesting team news out of this game is in the England team, where Knowles returns to the side after missing the opening two games with a calf injury and he takes the starting lock position, sending Victor Radley to the bench. There’s also a change at hooker with Jez Litten replacing Brad O’Neill in the number nine jersey. The hooker position is one of the very few where the PNG Kumuls compare well to England, with Edwin Ipape arguably the best in that position in this game. He has form too against the English region, as it was against the touring British Lions in 2019 where he made his name, starring in PNG’s upset win.
For PNG there is some tinkering, one through necessity, and sadly for the Kumuls, they lose one of their very few players with NRL experience in Jack de Belin through injury. He is ably replaced by Liam Horne at lock. Zac Laybutt moves to fullback at the expense of Morea Morea, which sees Josh Feledy move into the centres. Nene Macdonald is named in the centres again, although he didn’t start last weekend vs Samoa. The forwards see a bunch of new names in the team – Moretti, Jacob Taulani, Robert Mathias, and Sanny Wabo.
The stats don’t look good for PNG: they have lost all five games against England, four of those being in Australia/New Zealand/the UK and one in PNG as part of the 1975 World Cup. They have beaten Great Britain twice in nine games though. The Kumuls’ record in Australia isn’t great, with six wins in 32 matches, but they have won four of their last seven internationals in Australia – mainly against Fiji and Cook Islands. PNG have played before in Illawarra, back in 1971 where they lost to an Illawarra Under 21 side 18-9.
England have also played at this ground before and, like the Kumuls, were humbled by a local side – for England it was a 15-12 loss in 1975 to an Illawarra Firsts side. England’s recent record for World Cup games in Australia is hit-and-miss, winning five games and losing six. The loss to Tonga earlier in this tournament was the only at a World Cup in Australia not to Australia or New Zealand.
Looking ahead to the finals potentially, England need to win regardless, and the bigger the margin the better. However that won’t matter if Tonga are beaten by Samoa, as both teams will end up on four points (with Tonga advancing on the head-to-head tiebreaker), but England are currently ahead on points differential, with those late tries against France making a big difference. If Tonga do win, then between England’s win and Samoa’s loss there needs to be a change in points differential of 68 points. Not impossible but hard to imagine on Samoa’s current form.
In all likelihood this game will follow a lot of other mis-matched games this World Cup where the underdogs will have a real go at the more fancied opposition for a chunk of the first half, then concede a few tries in quick succession just before half-time, and then the game will slip away in the second half. Unless somehow the Kumuls can summon the spirit of that 2019 upset win over the British Lions, and their hooker Ipape is just the man to inspire it. Or Martin, who also played in that game, and is due to retire from the Kumuls at the end of this match.
Prediction
RLZ Tip: England by 20.
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