Kangaroos Make It Four Straight Rugby League World Cups

Australia have won the men's Rugby League World Cup for a fourth successive time, beating New Zealand in the final in Brisbane. The Kangaroos, as Australia's team is known, have now won ten of the last eleven men's titles, according to The Guardian's match report.

The result was not a foregone conclusion. A month before the final, the two sides met in the tournament's opening match, and Australia won by just two points. Coach Kevin Walters had his team ready for a harder fight, and the final began in exactly that way.

Liam Martin scored first for Australia. New Zealand answered when Casey McLean crossed the line, and the scores were level at 6-6. In rugby league, a try is worth four points and is scored when a player grounds the ball over the opponent's try line at the end of the field.

Then Australia pulled away. Jack Bostock and Bradman Best both scored, and Martin added a second try before the break. Australia led 24-6 at half-time.

Australia came out firm after the interval. Tom Trbojevic scored three minutes into the second half, finishing off a pass from Reece Walsh, to push the lead to 28-6. It was a sharp reminder of how quickly a rugby league match can shift when one side finds space.

New Zealand kept fighting. Isaiah Papalii collected a kick from Jahrome Hughes and scored, bringing the Kiwis back to 28-12. Their comeback was real, but it ran out of time.

Bostock then completed a hat-trick, meaning three tries in one match, with three minutes left on the clock. That late score settled the contest and gave him the headlines that a final often hands to a standout attacker.

For Australia, the win extends a run that has now become the defining pattern of this tournament. For New Zealand, the final ends a campaign that began with a narrow defeat and finished with a second-half fightback that came up short.