Rugby league’s second-biggest rivalry delivered a blockbuster on Seven overnight, with Tonga and Samoa living up to the hype in a brutal Rugby League World Cup clash at CommBank Stadium yesterday. The rivalry, often considered second only to State of Origin, produced a colossal contest between the two international heavyweights.
Despite the match being a dead rubber, with both sides already through to the semi-finals, the intensity on the field certainly suggested otherwise. And audiences were clearly hooked, with the clash reaching 2.9 million Australians and drawing a national average audience of 1.5 million.
The two small nations belted each other for 80 minutes of what can only be described as brutal football. The physicality was far beyond a normal NRL match, and was something viewers would only witness in the State of Origin.
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But despite a phenomenal 20-18 win for the Tongan international team over its biggest rival, Nine’s TV ratings juggernaut The Block stole the thunder.
In front of a reach of 3 million viewers and an average audience of 1.9 million, The Block’s time in Mount Eliza came to an end with a successful auction day.
Courtney and Sev were crowned the 2026 champions, taking home $1.37 million in cash plus, in a Block first, $500,000 worth of extra prizes thanks to Scotty’s prize pool.
Courtney and Sev’s House 4 sold for $4,720,000 ($1.37 million above reserve price).
All houses sold in a highly successful auction day, with the least amount of money a team walked away with being $367,000.
The rest of the weekend was dominated by Seven’s coverage of the final round matches of the Rugby League World Cup.
