Samoa ready to make history with English conquest

Annabelle Banfield | October 29, 2026

The Samoan women’s rugby league team are on the verge of booking a historic World Cup semi-finals berth in what would be their greatest ever victory. 

It has been 18 years since Samoa last contested a Women’s Rugby League World Cup, and now the proud Pacific nation will head to Wollongong on Friday night to take on England in a winner-takes-all clash. 

Captain Annetta Nu’uausala is welcoming the chance to create history for her people. 

“To be able to be those pioneers for our people back in Samoa would mean the world to our young ones,” Nu’uausala told AAP. 

“Just us being part of the World Cup is a big win for Samoa, so to be able to make semi-finals, it’s more than we could ever ask for.”

Nu’uausala and coach Frank Pritchard agreed that a win over England would be the biggest ever for the women’s team. 

They said victory would be transformational for the sport’s development in the Pacific Islands, but more must be done to grow the women’s game and create more pathways for Pacific stars to shine in the NRLW. 

“Getting results on the big stage for the national teams goes a long way to growing the game,” said Nu’uausala, Samo’as most-capped women’s representative.

“It would be good to have people from the NRL or whoever runs these programs to head over to Samoa, there’s so much interest there.”

Over Pritchard’s 15-year NRL career, the forward contributed to the rise of Pasifika talent, but thinks the semi-professional nature of the women’s game and lack of international experience makes it harder for emerging players. 

“The game needs to become full-time for our ladies,” Pritchard told AAP. 

“It’s easy for the men to transition, they’re all full-time and obviously money plays a big factor.

“We need more Test matches … we can’t wait to the end of the year to play these sort of games.”

Nu’uausala hopes there will be more women following her lead and choosing to represent their heritage, copying the trend from the men’s game. 

“I had my first two World Cups with the Kiwi Ferns and  now I’ve got my third with Samoa,” the Warriors prop said. 

“It was an easy decision for me. I’m not considered one of the young ones anymore in this sport, so I’d love to finish off with these colours.”

England and Samoa have had similar journeys through the tournament, losing big to Australia and then thumping Wales.

It all comes down to Friday night’s final group game between the two sides, with the result deciding who goes through to the knockout stage. 

The match is the first between these nations’ women’s teams, but Samoa will take inspiration from the country’s men’s side, who pulled off an almighty upset against the hosts in a semi-final at the last World Cup in England. 

“What the men did, they built a good foundation for Samoa, so it’s good for us to come into this World Cup and be able to build on that,” Nu’uausala said.

“We’ve got some really good male counterparts who really support and show so much love to the women’s game.”