{"id":807226,"date":"2026-10-19T04:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T04:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807226\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T04:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T04:36:15","slug":"rugby-league-world-cup-attendances-revealed-as-opening-week-draws-major-crowds-across-australia-and-png","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807226\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby League World Cup attendances revealed as opening week draws major crowds across Australia and PNG"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Official attendance figures have been confirmed for the opening round of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup, with over 95,000 supporters packing out stadiums across Australia and Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n

The tournament opened in spectacular fashion in Sydney on Thursday evening, where a sell-out crowd of 41,255 watched Australia edge out New Zealand 24-22. The milestone figure marked the largest Test match crowd in Sydney in over 50 years, surpassing a record that had stood since the 1974 Ashes series.<\/p>\n

Action continued in Parramatta on Friday night, where a double-header header at CommBank Stadium drew 13,174 spectators to watch Australia\u2019s women claim a convincing 40-0 victory over Samoa before Benji Marshall\u2019s men\u2019s Samoan side put on an attacking clinic in a 74-8 defeat of France.<\/p>\n

Strong international turnouts in Port Moresby, Perth, and Newcastle cap off opening round<\/p>\n

Saturday delivered another wave of impressive turnouts across the southern hemisphere, starting in Port Moresby, where a passionate crowd of 11,624 filled the Santos National Football Stadium. The home fans were treated to double success as PNG Women defeated France 58-4 before the Kumuls earned a hard-fought 42-18 men\u2019s victory over Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Over in Western Australia, a strong crowd of 18,302 packed into Perth\u2019s HBF Park for a double-header involving England. While England Women put on a show with a 70-6 rout of Wales, the men\u2019s side suffered a tough 30-12 setback against a star-studded Tonga side in front of a vocal crowd.<\/p>\n

The opening round concluded in Newcastle on Sunday, where 10,604 supporters braved the conditions at McDonald Jones Stadium to watch New Zealand Women edge Fiji 18-12 before the Fiji Bati men\u2019s team thrilled the crowd with a 40-12 triumph over the Cook Islands.<\/p>\n

With strong numbers recorded across every venue, the international game\u2019s flagship event has officially launched with immense momentum heading into week two.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Official attendance figures have been confirmed for the opening round of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-807226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}