News Made Clear · Loading…
News Made Clear · Loading…
England’s men need Tonga to beat Samoa by more than 46 points to avoid elimination after a 34-12 win over Papua New Guinea proved insufficient. The women are already out after losing to Samoa, as BBC Sport examines the teams’ preparation and resources.
Review information is loading.
England’s men and women are both on the brink of missing the semi-finals of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup after defeats exposed problems ranging from a disrupted build-up to a widening gap in investment and international competition.
The men beat Papua New Guinea 34-12 on Friday but failed to win by the margin needed to keep their fate in their own hands. Their elimination will be confirmed unless Tonga beat Samoa by more than 46 points on Sunday. England’s women lost 24-6 to Samoa, ending their campaign.
The men’s likely exit would end a run of reaching at least the semi-finals that began with Great Britain at the first World Cup in 1954. England had already lost their opening match 30-12 to Tonga, leaving them needing successive wins and a substantial improvement in points difference. Their defeat by Tonga and 82-0 win over France shaped the precarious position before Friday’s final group game.
BBC Sport’s Steve Sutcliffe identifies England’s short preparation period, travel disruption and injuries as key difficulties. Brian McDermott was appointed head coach in April, six months before the tournament, and had no mid-season international matches in which to develop his plans. Based in Australia as an assistant coach with Gold Coast Titans, he relied on virtual meetings to connect with players and staff.
Four full training sessions were planned in Australia before the tournament, but only two were completed after UK-based players endured a 48-hour journey to Perth. England then faced Tonga in their opening match. After the loss, McDermott said he would have been excited by “another two or three weeks preparation or another couple of games of preparation”.
Injuries also reduced England’s options, particularly among the forwards. Matty Lees, Mike McMeeken and Caleb Hamlin-Uele were unavailable, Morgan Smithies withdrew injured, and Morgan Knowles missed the Tonga match with a calf problem. Several other potential squad members were also absent through injury.
McDermott said the team had made progress despite difficult circumstances, but acknowledged the pressure created by needing wins by large margins. “You don’t just need to win, you need to win by massive margins,” he said.
England’s women had reached the semi-finals at every previous World Cup in which they competed, but this time lost 78-0 to Australia before falling to Samoa. Head coach Stuart Barrow selected 11 players aged 23 or under; many of the squad have full-time jobs outside rugby league.
1 listed sources · explore evidence, limitations and provenance.
Sign in to give this article a thumbs up or down.
Private test discussion. Comments are readers’ views and are not yet automatically fact-checked. Editing is available for 60 seconds after posting.
Sign in with a confirmed reader account and choose a username to read comments and participate.
Sorting applies to top-level comments; replies remain oldest first. New comments and likes can change the order. Refresh for the current ranking.
Loading comments…
Barrow said England’s Women’s Super League could not match the pace of development in the NRLW, where players are paid and which has helped strengthen Australia and Pacific nations. He called for more investment in the women’s and girls’ game in England.
He also pointed to England’s limited schedule against top opposition: since the previous World Cup, the women had played six internationals, all against France and Wales, before meeting Australia and Samoa at this tournament. “The more of those [competitive games] we can get will definitely help us as a nation,” he said.
Barrow accepted that Samoa were the better side on the day. The contrasting challenges facing the two England teams — a late appointment and disrupted preparations for the men, and a gap in resources and high-level fixtures for the women — have left both campaigns close to an early end.