History made. Just for all the wrong reasons.

England are out of the World Cup at the group stage for the first time ever. Even if we do have to wait another two days for it to be officially confirmed.

And they can have absolutely no complaints.

Not after that collapse.

The format hasn’t been kind to England. They might have got another crack at it under a different system. But the blunt reality is that we’ve seen absolutely nothing to suggest they’re capable of winning this tournament.

There’s Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Samoa. Then there’s England and Fiji.

Best of the rest.

The defeat to Tonga was frustrating. But the performance against Papua New Guinea was a mess. England lacked composure, patience and, frankly, quality.

Sadly, none of this should come as much of a surprise.

England are no longer genuine contenders on the international stage. The results of the last 12 months have made that abundantly clear.

And the frightening thing? It’s difficult to see that changing any time soon.

We desperately try to pretend we care about the international game in this country. We talk a good game about the national team, about raising standards and competing with the best.

But we don’t. We don’t even pay lip service to it anymore.

The England head coach role is now part-time. In fairness, perhaps that’s the logical decision when we don’t even bother with a mid-season international anymore, let alone attempt to organise meaningful training camps during the season.

Instead, we’ve prioritised a 14-team domestic competition. Perhaps 15 teams now. A competition that has even had to increase its quota of overseas players because clubs keep complaining about the size of the domestic player pool.

Genius!

Is it any wonder our generational talents so often fail to fulfil their potential, only to be overtaken by NRL players of the same age? Herbie Farnworth is the obvious exception. And, rather tellingly, he went to the NRL at a young age.

Almost every major decision in this country seems to come at the expense of the national team.

War of the Roses was a brilliant idea. Fobbed off.

We need to get real about this. We are actively conspiring against our own best players. We are stunting their development, limiting their opportunities and making it harder for them to compete at the highest level. Sometimes deliberately, sometimes through sheer short-sightedness. But the outcome is always the same.

So let’s forget the endless debates about whether Brian McDermott is the right coach, whether Harry Smith and George Williams are the right half-back pairing, or whatever other selection argument people want to have.

They’re distractions.

England never had a chance of winning this tournament. We’ve spent years making sure they don’t.