England’s Rugby League World Cup campaign is heading for an historic disaster. The men beat Papua New Guinea 34-12 on Friday but are almost certainly out, while the women lost 24-6 to Samoa — and for the first time ever, neither England team looks likely to reach the last four.
Mikey Lewis darted over for a late try in a desperate points chase, but the margin was nowhere near what England needed. Their elimination will be confirmed on Sunday unless Tonga beat Samoa by more than 46 points — a result nobody is expecting.
England World Cup Elimination After PNG Win
The early exit ends a proud run: for the men, it breaks a streak that began with Great Britain at the first tournament in 1954, with England reaching two finals and four further semi-finals across the past six World Cups.
The roots of the failure go back well before kickoff. Brian McDermott was appointed head coach in April after Shaun Wane departed following last autumn’s 3-0 Ashes defeat by Australia — and he inherited a near-impossible task. Based in Australia as a Gold Coast Titans assistant, McDermott had just six months to prepare, no mid-season international to work on a plan, and relied on virtual meetings with his prospective squad.
Shambolic Travel and Tonga Opener
Only two of the four planned on-field sessions in Australia were completed in full after UK-based players endured a 48-hour journey to Perth that left them exhausted — a situation McDermott compared to the road-trip comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It was a shambolic way to prepare for a pivotal opener against Tonga, which England lost 30-12.
“You give me another two or three weeks preparation or another couple of games of preparation leading into the tournament and I’d be really excited,” McDermott said after that defeat.
The women, meanwhile, lacked the power and nous to overcome Samoa in a match that decided the semi-final spot. With the tournament hosted at short notice by Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea after France pulled out for financial reasons, English rugby league now faces what the BBC calls a serious period of introspection — and a need for significant investment to keep pace with the thriving NRL.
Image credits: BBC Sport
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
