Tonga Edge Samoa 20-18 to Seal World Cup Semis as Leicester Stay Top and Pau Stun Toulouse
The weekend's rugby in one place: a record Parramatta crowd, Lebanon's golden point, England out of the league World Cup, Prem round five, URC round five and a Top 14 shock in Pau.
Tuesday, November 3, 2026/3 min read
Addin Fonua-Blake had ten minutes to spare when he went through the middle of the Samoa defence at CommBank Stadium on Sunday night. Isaiya Katoa's conversion made it Tonga 20, Samoa 18, and the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals were set: New Zealand against Tonga in Newcastle on Saturday, Australia against Samoa in Sydney on Sunday. The crowd of 29,411 in Parramatta was a record for the two Pacific rivals, 1News reported.
It was the game of a weekend that also settled England's fate, put Leicester clear at the top of the Prem, and sent Toulouse home from Pau on the wrong end of a 20-point beating. Here is what actually happened, with the scores checked against two outlets each.
How did Tonga beat Samoa and who is in the World Cup semi-finals?
Rob Toia scored Tonga's first try around the 26th minute and Brian To'o replied just before the break, with Tonga 8-4 up at half-time. Jojo Fifita stretched the lead early in the second half before To'o, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Ronald Volkman put Samoa 18-14 ahead with ten minutes left. Then Fonua-Blake. Samoa missed three of their four conversions, and in the final minutes Sua Fa'alogo appeared to have scored before replays showed a foot on the touchline, the ABC's live coverage recorded.
The result put Tonga top of the combined pools B and C and carried Samoa through as the second qualifier, which meant England, 34-12 winners over Papua New Guinea in Wollongong on Friday, went out at the group stage. Samoa's Chanel Harris-Tavita pulled up holding a hamstring and is unlikely to face the Kangaroos. Earlier on Sunday at the same ground, Lebanon beat France 24-20 in golden point after Arthur Mourgue's two-point field goal on 80 minutes forced extra time and Abbas Miski pounced on a loose chip in the 85th. In Group A on Saturday, New Zealand beat Fiji 78-0 on the Gold Coast, with Casey McLean scoring four tries, and Australia beat the Cook Islands 66-6 in Townsville to finish the group phase unbeaten. In the women's tournament Australia scored 21 tries in a 124-6 win over Wales, a record for any international.
What were the Prem round five results?
Leicester won 22-16 at Ashton Gate on Friday night to stay top, though Bristol pushed them all the way after Louis Rees-Zammit scored early. On Saturday, Northampton came from 14-0 down to beat Gloucester 28-14 at Franklin's Gardens, a result that knocked Gloucester off the summit and cost England scrum-half Alex Mitchell, who left after 21 minutes with his third hamstring injury of the year, Sky Sports reported.
Bath ended a three-game winless run with a 36-28 bonus-point win over Sale at the Rec, Joe Cokanasiga scoring twice and Henry Arundell marking his return with a try, while George Ford converted all four Sale tries. Saracens trailed Newcastle Red Bulls 17-7 at half-time and scored five second-half tries to win 39-31. Harlequins won 31-28 at Sandy Park, Lucas Schmid scoring two of their five tries, and Exeter sit second from bottom after five rounds despite Olly Woodburn's late try earning two bonus points.
URC round five and the Top 14 shock in Pau
In the United Rugby Championship, Leinster ran in 50 points at Connacht, winning 50-5, and the three South African sides climbed into the top four. The Stormers beat Ulster 33-7 in Cape Town, the Bulls beat the Scarlets 54-26 at Loftus and the Sharks ground out a 15-3 win at Thomond Park. Glasgow beat the Lions 29-20 at Scotstoun after letting a 19-3 half-time lead slip to 20-19 before a late try and penalty, rugby365 noted. Benetton beat Edinburgh 31-12, Dragons beat Zebre 35-14 and Cardiff shut out the Ospreys 26-0.
France produced the weekend's loudest upset. Section Paloise beat Stade Toulousain 34-14 at the Stade du Hameau on Sunday night, while Montpellier put 69 points on Castres in a 69-10 rout, the LNR's round eight results show. Clermont beat Racing 92 37-30, Stade Francais beat La Rochelle 43-24, Lyon beat Vannes 48-25, Bordeaux-Begles edged Bayonne 19-14 and Toulon won 25-24 in Perpignan.
The club game now pauses for the Nations Championship, which resumes in Dublin on Friday night, and the league World Cup moves to its semi-finals next weekend. For Tonga, a first World Cup final is one win away.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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