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![\"Herbie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/261027-farnworth-hero.jpg\"\/)
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\n Herbie Farnworth scoring for England
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Hat-tricks, dominant victories and standout performances from Dolphins stars headlined Round 2 of the Rugby League World Cup, as the race for the semi-finals heats up.<\/p>\n
Tonga opened the round with a convincing 36-0 victory over Lebanon, continuing their unbeaten run under Dolphins Head Coach Kristian Woolf.<\/p>\n
The win sets up a highly anticipated Round 3 showdown against Samoa at CommBank Stadium, with both nations looking to secure their place in the semi-finals<\/p>\n
Samoa also made a statement, powering past Papua New Guinea 64-6, with Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow delivering another impressive performance.<\/p>\n
Tabuai-Fidow crossed for two tries, ran for 154 metres, recorded seven tackle breaks and made two line breaks as Samoa continued their strong World Cup campaign.<\/p>\n
England kept their semi-final hopes alive with a dominant 82-0 victory over France, led by a sensational hat-trick from Dolphins centre Herbie Farnworth.<\/p>\n
Farnworth was unstoppable, running for 168 metres, including 40 post-contact metres, and recording nine tackle breaks in a commanding performance.<\/p>\n
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\n Herbie Farnworth scoring for England
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England will now face Papua New Guinea in a must-win Round 3 clash, with their semi-final hopes also depending on the result between Tonga and Samoa.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, New Zealand bounced back from their opening-round defeat to Australia with an emphatic 82-16 victory over the Cook Islands.<\/p>\n
Winger Jamayne Isaako starred with a hat-trick and a record-breaking 38-point haul, setting a new record for the most points scored by a Kiwi in a Test match.<\/p>\n
The Kiwis will now face Fiji in a crucial Round 3 clash, with the winner keeping their World Cup campaign alive.<\/p>\n
Australia rounded out the action with a hard-fought 36-22 victory over Fiji in Brisbane, overcoming a determined Bati side in a thrilling contest.<\/p>\n
Dolphins representative Kurt Donoghoe delivered a standout performance for Fiji, earning Player of the Match honours despite the narrow defeat.<\/p>\n
Donoghoe was instrumental for Fiji, delivering three try assists, three line-break assists and a tackle break in a standout performance against Australia.<\/p>\n
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Kurt Donoghoe named player of the match<\/p>\n
The victory secured Australia\u2019s place in the semi-finals, with Dolphins winger Jack Bostock and the Kangaroos progressing to the knockout stages.<\/p>\n
With Round 3 set to determine the remaining semi-final spots, Dolphins representatives will be looking to build on their performances as the tournament reaches a crucial stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hat-tricks, dominant victories and standout performances from Dolphins stars headlined Round 2 of the Rugby League World Cup,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":942433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-942432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/942433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}