The 2026 Women's Rugby League World Cup has kicked off at Santos National Football Stadium in Port Moresby. Host nation Papua New Guinea, playing as the Orchids, met Fiji's Bulikula in what was billed as a high-stakes Pacific showdown. The Orchids had the backing of a home crowd at their national stadium, an atmosphere few visiting teams ever get to play in. Fiji arrived as a familiar regional rival, and matches between these two Pacific neighbours tend to carry plenty of edge. Early results in a World Cup pool can shape the entire run toward the knockout rounds, so neither camp treated the fixture as a formality. This encounter had been circled as a genuine measure of the host nation's campaign. Post Courier reported the match got underway with both teams looking to set the tone for the rest of the tournament.