RFL launches review after England’s men and women exit World Cup early

England’s Rugby Football League has announced a panel to plan the future of the domestic game after the men’s and women’s teams both exited the Rugby League World Cup in the group stage. The review will examine how to develop players for international rugby and address concerns including the game’s reach and media rights.

Former Great Britain captain Paul Sculthorpe, retiring England women’s captain Jodie Cunningham and international great Adrian Morley are among those named to the panel. The RFL says more members will be confirmed in the coming days. The work builds on its One Game, One England initiative, which aims to strengthen player development from grassroots and academy level.

RFL chief executive Ian Nolan said travel schedules and the tournament format were among factors outside the organisation’s control, but added: “We can't use these as excuses”. He said the review would consider how to balance reach and revenue from media rights and attract new audiences, as well as examining England’s long-running difficulty in making an impact internationally.

England’s men were eliminated after Tonga beat Samoa 20-18, a result that confirmed the outcome of a campaign in which England had won two of three group matches. Their World Cup campaign had already been precarious after a 30-12 defeat by Tonga in the opener. England beat France 82-0 and Papua New Guinea 34-12, but those results were not enough to secure a semi-final place.

The women beat Wales 70-6 but lost 78-0 to Australia and 24-6 to Samoa. Their domestic competition, the Women’s Super League, is effectively amateur, while Australia’s NRLW is professional. Nolan said England’s squad was young, with 11 players having come through the Diploma in Sporting Excellence development programme, and described the team as building for future World Cups.

The men’s exit came a year after Australia secured the Rugby League Ashes series, a result that preceded Shaun Wane’s departure as England head coach. Brian McDermott took over in April and had no mid-season international or warm-up matches to prepare the team for this tournament. England’s build-up was also affected by travel disruption and injuries.

McDermott has said English rugby league needs stronger domestic structures and a higher standard of competition to help the national side improve. The NRL’s possible investment in Super League could help, but he has argued that money alone would not resolve the underlying development problems.

The panel’s recommendations are expected to inform decisions with effects that may take years to emerge. Nolan said progress would not happen overnight and that changes could take four, eight or 10 years to pay off.