A big weekend of International Rugby League has been run and won, and to measure all the teams and players side by side, here is our Rugby League World Cup Round 1 Stats, with an added Team of the Round and Player Ratings.
After each round of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup, we’ll offer up a brief look at the stats that matter for both the teams and players involved in the RLWC26 action.
Rugby League World Cup Round 1 Stats
GOOD
- PNG’s 2,043 run metres is only 36 metres behind Samoa who had a glorified training run v France.
- Nixon Putt
- Sualauvi Faalogo’s multiple try effort from the bench.
- Samoa’s 67 tackle breaks were 26 more than the second best.
- Aussies v Kiwis opening match.
BAD
- France’s 82 Missed Tackles would have been the equal fifth worst team v round efforts in the NRL in 2026.
- Another injury for Deine Mariner.
- Injury to Kalyn Ponga.
UGLY
- Australia will want to improve on their one Line Break from Round 1.
- England’s 16 errors was a s many as France.
- Australia and Tonga both topped the penalty & 6 Again count for the weekend.
Rugby League World Cup Round 1 Team Stats
The best of Team Stats from the weekend of Rugby League World Cup action.
Rugby League World Cup Round 1 Team of the Round & Player Ratings
Here is the Team of the Round based on various stats and judged on each position.
Rugby League World Cup Round 1 Player Stats
To see how and why the Team of the Round and Player Ratings ended like they did, with the standout players of the weekend.
Rugby League World Cup Round 1 Match Reports
To finish off the stats for Round 1, here are the Match Report visuals, available from our full match hubs listed below.
RLWC26 ROUND 1 MATCH HUBS
Australia v Kiwis
Samoa v France
PNG v Lebanon
Tonga v England
Fiji v Cook Islands
