SYDNEY (AP) — Jack Bostock scored three tries on debut and combined with Reece Walsh for another as defending champion Australia edged New Zealand 24-22 to open the Rugby League World Cup on Thursday with a momentum-swinging encounter befitting of a final.
The game was tied 10-10 at halftime and the lead changed four times in the second half, with fullbacks Kayln Ponga for the Kiwis and Walsh for the Kangaroos scoring solo long-range tries to showcase their individual attacking brilliance.
Ponga scored twice in the second half, including a weaving, stepping run that left Cameron Munster and Walsh in his wake in the 60th minute to give New Zealand a 22-16 lead, but finished the game on the sidelines with a suspected broken left arm.
Not to be outdone, Walsh attacked from inside his own 10-meter zone and combined with Bostock to take an inside pass and beat four defenders, stepping through two tackles and around two others, before outpacing the cover on an 80-meter run to the left corner.
He was too exhausted to take the conversion attempt and Latrell Mitchell missed the shot as his replacement, leaving Australia two points behind with 10 minutes remaining.
The Kangaroos took the lead when winger Bostock leapt to take a high kick from Munster and wrestled the ball off Jamayne Isaako to score the clincher in the 76th.
“Everything I’ve ever dreamed of,” Bostock said of his international debut.
Walsh said the tournament opener was a “special one" between two “really passionate” teams.
“What a way to start off the 2026 World Cup,” he said.
New Zealand won the title in 2008, the only break in an otherwise Australian domination of the world championship since 1975.
Kiwis captain James Fisher-Harris said his team was right in the contest against the Kangaroos despite conceding five tries and scoring three.
“It was a good start,” he said. “Only improvement from here.”
The tournament continues Friday with France against Samoa. England and Tonga meet on Saturday in Perth in another Pool B contest.
The semifinals are scheduled for Nov. 7 and 8 in Newcastle and Sydney, with the final at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Nov. 15.
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