Samoan skipper's brilliance snaps 16-year World Cup drought as Fiji left heartbroken

Samoa have qualified for the women's Rugby League World Cup for the first time in 16 years after an heroic Pacific Championships comeback that broke Fijian hearts.

The thrilling battle doubled as a World Cup qualifier with Samoa confirming their position to feature in the tournament for the first time since 2008 after coming from behind to win a tense clash 16-12.

Six teams have been confirmed to play in the 2026 World Cup, with Tonga named as the seventh.

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Samoa looked set to have their World Cup drought extended as Fiji took complete control of play early in the game.

But Jamie Soward's team was not ready to go out without a fight as the power of Annetta-Claudia Nu'uausala ignited Samoa's fire and turned the game on its head.

Fiji's World Cup chances flashed before their eyes as the Samoan skipper charged over with just three minutes remaining on the clock to snatch a two point lead.

"That is confidence, baby," Brad Fittler said on Nine.

Nu'uausala was unstoppable as she recorded 130 running metres, 17 tackle busts, three line breaks and three offloads on top of her two tries.

But the victory was not as smooth sailing as the skipper hoped, revealing she was proud to see her team overcome various hurdles along the way.

Watch the 2024 Pacific Championships on Nine and 9Now.

"Man, what a hard fought game," she said post-match.

"Thank you to our Fijian sisters for putting up a fight. We knew you girls were going to come out here and give us a really hard battle.

"We had a really hard week coming into this game, but we put our differences aside and got the win for our nation."

Jessica Patea opened the scoring for Samoa before Fiji built momentum to send Abigayle Sekitoga and Sienna Laing over the line.

Fiji looked to be in complete control of the match but were hindered by minor errors, with a tackle on Samoa's Destiny Brill prompting alarm bells in Nine's commentary team.

The Fijian hooker remarkably returned to her feet after she was hit high by Fiji's Sienna Laing.

The hit did not catch the attention of the on-field officials as Fiji's Abigayle Sekitoga raced 95 metres to score.

But Nine's commentary team feared the individual brilliance would be denied.

"It was a high tackle, she got taken out," Fittler said.

"That's an old-fashioned coat hanger. It should be (a penalty)."

Match officials did not see it the same way, however, as Vitalina Naikore was cleared to take the conversion, much to the surprise of Ruan Sims.

"We have seen plays like this been called back and (tries) taken off," she said.

"But it is the wild west... I think the Bulikula are lucky to get away with that one."

Brill then managed to escape without report after placing Latisha Smythe in a dangerous position.

"The theme of the first half has been play on and I love that," Fittler said.

Samoa will now turn their attention to the victor of New Zealand's clash with Papua New Guinea, while Fiji will look to fix their mistakes ahead of the 2025 World Series in a bid to gain World Cup qualification.