Defending champion Australia beats Samoa to reach Rugby League World Cup final against New Zealand

SYDNEY (AP) — Defending champion Australia remained on course for a fourth consecutive Rugby League World Cup title with a 44-12 win over Samoa in wet conditions Sunday to set up a final against New Zealand.Fullback Reece Walsh scored three tries, celebrating the first with a backflip, as Australia posted eight tries against two in a dominant semifinal performance.Australia opened the tournament with a 24-22 comeback win over New Zealand, and the teams will meet again for the title next weekend in Brisbane. New Zealand reached the championship decider with a 34-10 win over Tonga on Saturday in Newcastle, north of Sydney.The second of the semifinals was a replay of the final in 2022, when Samoa stunned the competition to reach the decider.On Sunday, though, a series of errors from Samoa gave Australia too much momentum and a sin-bin for prop Spencer Leniu gave the Kangaroos an overlap late in the first half.Samoa scored first via a Stephen Crichton penalty goal but Australia took charge soon after, with Tom Dearden scoring from a scrum move.Jacob Preston, Tom Trbojevic, Walsh and Bradman Best all scored first-half tries to give Australia a 26-2 halftime lead. A Walsh error led to a try for Crichton, which momentarily lifted Samoa early in the second half, but the Australia fullback retaliated with a try soon after and then added a third and contributed to the last try for the Kangaroos as well.New Zealand won the title in 2008, the only break in an otherwise Australian domination of the world championship since 1975.___See AP’s full sports coverage here