Holy Moses: Mitch stands tall to claim Man of the Tournament honours

All hail the King of Bankwest Stadium. 

After christening Parramatta's state-of-the-art venue with its first try in April, Mitchell Moses put on a clinic at the ground to claim Player of the Tournament honours in Australia's World Cup 9s triumph.

The Eels halfback registered a hat-trick en route to a 20-point haul in the final against New Zealand on Saturday night to ensure the Kangaroos were the first to lift the new trophy.

"It's a good stadium, I think," an understated Moses smiled after the match.

"I love playing here. Obviously I've had a bit of experience here. It's a great stadium – any time you get any type of fans here it feels like it's sold out."

Moses downplayed the hype around his own performances to praise his A-list cast of teammates.

"I wanted to come into this camp and learn as much as possible and see what I can take out to my Parramatta side," he said.

"I just was in the right place at the right time on the end of a great backline and forward pack."

Australian coach Mal Meninga confirmed Moses and fellow Nines standout David Fifita were mounting formidable Test cases.

Parramatta lock Nathan Brown had a bittersweet competition, scoring a double in one match but leaving the stadium in a moon boot to support a likely syndesmosis injury.

Kiwis coach Michael Maguire was satisfied with his side's effort.

"I'm really proud of the boys ... I had to bring in quite a number of large front-rowers and back-rowers and to get to this point, I'm really proud of them," Maguire said.

"We had the opportunity to bring in and debut a number of young guys and I thought they played really well for us."

Earlier, Samoa exceeded the expectations of most in reaching the semi-finals and putting up a gallant fight against Australia, who pulled away late in the second term to win 25-8.

England were also far from disgraced in falling 22-6 to New Zealand one game short of the decider.

Overlooked for the upcoming Great Britain Test tour, Catalans fullback Sam Tomkins was among his nation's best but said he didn't feel he had anything to prove.

"I'm 30 years old and past any of that. I just wanted to come and have fun for a week," said Tomkins, who played for the New Zealand Warriors in 2014 and '15.

Lebanon sprung the upset of the tournament by beating England 16-13, with former NRL speedster Travis Robinson the two-try hero.

"We knew if we came out with energy, worked hard on each one of their plays, we'd come up with a win," said Robinson.

However, the Cedars' bubble was later burst when they had their points stripped from Friday's gutsy win over France because 17-year-old Jacob Kiraz was deemed ineligible to play.

Despite being an international competition, the Nines were subject to NRL policy which sets the minimum playing age at 18 for safety reasons.

A loss to Wales meant Lebanon couldn't have reached the playoffs regardless.

That wasn't the only drama – Robinson and Welshman Dan Fleming became the first men sent to the three-minute sin bin after a melee, while Tonga edged Fiji with an extra-time Golden Try.

The thrilling victory was Tonga's only success as they lost to Samoa and missed the finals.

"It was good to get a win but we definitely made it hard it on ourselves," said Jason Taumalolo.

Fiji also underwhelmed in a winless campaign but star forward Viliame Kikau wants more of the modified format.

"It would have been good to get a win this weekend but unfortunately that wasn't the case for us," Kikau said.

"I enjoyed the Nines. Hopefully this goes on every year from now."

Cook Islands showed promise, beating the Bati but losing to Samoa to finish second in Pool C, while Wales and France claimed a win each in Pool B.

The improving USA were valiant although they didn't salute over the weekend. Papua New Guinea's lone victory came against the Hawks on day one.