Pool B + C: England 34-12 Papua New Guinea
Men’s and women’s sides exit in matter of hours
England’s Rugby League World Cup campaign is all but over despite victory over Papua New Guinea in their final group stage game, with Brian McDermott’s side failing to score the requisite amount of points to give themselves a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
The task was ominous pre-match, with England needing to not only beat the Kumuls and hope Tonga defeated Samoa on Sunday, but overturn a 68-point swing on the Samoans in the process. Technically it is still possible after England at least won in Wollongong, but the 22-point margin of victory means they are relying on a 46-point Tongan win. In short, that is near-impossible.
It means that for the first time in World Cup history, the semi-finals will take place without England on a miserable day in which their men’s and women’s sides were effectively consigned to early exits within hours of one another. It will represent a damning day for English rugby league on the whole, with the gap to the world’s best nations undoubtedly widening.
That is despite England looking like they were capable of holding up their end of the bargain inside a magnificent opening quarter. They scored four unanswered tries to lead 22-0 after just 21 minutes, and the prospect of winning by 68 – which would have meant a Tongan win of any kind would be enough to qualify at the expense of Samoa – felt entirely plausible.
However, their game-plan then fell apart and a series of unforgivable errors with and without the ball meant they did not score another try for 50 minutes. By then, Papua New Guinea had also scored twice to halve a 24-0 deficit at the interval and take any possibility of an England win by the requisite required margin off the table.
Knowing they needed to score points aplenty, England began brightly. Matty Ashton finished a superb move on the left to open the scoring after six minutes before AJ Brimson cut through five minutes later.
England’s running game was too much for the Kumuls to handle, with George Williams laying the platform for Dom Young to cross before Harry Smith and Kai Pearce-Paul then combined to send the former through a gap. Leading 22-0 at such an early stage, eyes were already turning to how many more England could score to make Sunday’s final group game interesting.
But McDermott’s side bombed three more glorious opportunities as half-time approached, and their lack of fluidity continued to desert them after the restart. That enabled Papua New Guinea to gain a foothold in the game for the first time, and they scored their first try through Dudley Dotoi. Gairo Voro then cut through to make it 24-12; now, England had to focus on simply winning.
They were at least able to stem any further threat of a remarkable comeback win for the Kumuls through Morgan Knowles and Mikey Lewis’ late tries, but the damage had already been done. Barring the greatest rugby league miracle in history on Sunday, England are heading home.
England women crash out to pile on misery
England’s women have failed to reach the final stages of a Rugby League World Cup for the first time, as the increasing gulf between the northern and southern hemispheres was once again exposed in defeat to Samoa which ends their tournament prematurely.
Stuart Barrow’s side were in a winner-takes-all showdown in Wollongong against the Samoans, who were looking to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time. Their star-studded side, packed with NRLW talent, ultimately got the job done to inflict more misery on English rugby league and underline how they are being left behind on the international stage.
England’s 78-0 defeat to Australia last week felt damaging enough, but failing to qualify from a group for the very first time is another damning indictment of where the English game now appears to sit in the pecking order. There will be a lengthy inquest back home for not just the men’s side, but the women’s too.
Credit must go to Samoa too, though. Their rise in the international game has mirrored that of the men’s and while they too were beaten heavily by Australia in the opening weekend of the group stage, they are deservedly in the semi-finals for the very first time. They were much the stronger of the two sides in Wollongong and worthy winners.
It did not take long for Samoa’s superiority to shine. The outstanding Freedom Crichton Ropati crossed twice in the right corner in the early exchanges, before the Parramatta Eels winger completed her hat-trick on the stroke of half-time. In contrast, England had showed little promise when they were in possession and looked comfortably second best.
They had to score first after the break, but instead went further behind when Mercedez Taulelei-Siala crossed to make it 16-0, with only missed goal kicks from the Samoans keeping it somewhat respectable. Evie Cousins would take advantage of a marvellous Hollie-Mae Dodd break to get England on the board, but it was already looking like nothing more than consolation.
That proved the case when Fanua Rimoni’s late try put the seal on a wonderful win for Samoa, and ensured England would be heading home early. The sobering reality for the women’s game in England is that there does not appear to be a quick fix to close the gap, however.
The NRLW is making huge strides year on year, with players now fully professional and the talent pool growing at an exponential rate. There is progress in England, but much slower – with only a handful of competitive teams, and none yet professional.
Barrow opted to take a young squad to Australia, with 11 of the group that travelled 23 or under. That is perhaps with the 2030 tournament in mind, but with the disparity in investment between the two hemispheres only widening in women’s rugby league, England will head home early knowing there is a difficult few years ahead: and the prospect of the gulf only getting wider.
Rugby League World Cup 2026
Papua New Guinea rugby league team
