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England’s World Cup is over. Only the most pedantic mathematician would disagree after Brian McDermott’s men dismally failed to capitalise on a blistering start and give themselves a realistic chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
They beat Papua New Guinea in Sydney, but still it verged on the embarrassing. Needing a 68-point margin of victory in their final pool game to wipe out Samoa’s points-difference advantage, England burst into a 22-0 lead by racking up four tries after only 20 minutes.
The Kumuls were being pummelled and at that stage it seemed that Samoa would need to beat Tonga on Sunday to stop England from advancing. But then the momentum crashed into a heap, as England spurned opportunities and even allowed plucky Papua New Guinea back into the contest. The procession went into recession.
It took until the 68th minute for England to score their fifth try and by then, the underdogs had crossed for two tries of their own.
There were late scores for Morgan Knowles and Mikey Lewis, but they were scant consolation. England must hang around for the formalities, with Samoa knowing they could even lose by 46 points against their fierce Pacific Island rivals and still go through to the knockout stages.
Barring a miracle this will be the first time in the 72-year history of the World Cup that England have not made the last four.
So what went wrong? Well, the format was daft – no side in a World Cup should ever be forced to return after winning two of three games – and the damage was done in the first pool match when they lost to Tonga. That they gave themselves a sniff with their 82-0 defeat of France last weekend was besides the point.
They had to maintain that pace to put the pressure on Samoa, but after the ideal beginning they contracted a nasty case of white-line fever from which they could not recover.
More to follow...
England need a miracle to reach the semi-finals. Following a strong first-half display, which saw McDermott’s side build a 24-point lead, PNG responded brilliantly after the break with two tries in quick succession to leave England with a mountain to climb. Despite winning today, England’s performance was full of errors and they’re now relying on Tonga to emphatically beat Samoa on Sunday to make up the eye-watering points difference. Their World Cup dreams are hanging on by a thread.
Lewis darts through a gap and uses his energy as a second-half substitute to make a sensational dash for the left corner to score the try. From a very tight angle, Smith can’t add the conversion.
Farnworth shrugs off two tackles and makes a desperate sprint for the try line. He loses it at the finish because of PNG’s determined scramble.
After turning back to gather Watkins’ loose pass, Young escapes a tackle and desperately tries to reach the try line. PNG’s resilient defence holds him up and Smith then attempts an intricate grubber kick. However, yet another England attack breaks down. That is the story of the second half.
An unsuccessful PNG captain’s challenge following a knock-on gives England a scrum about 20 metres out from the line. The ball is worked out wide to Young, but once again, there’s no space for the winger to work with. All his angles are completely closed off and the PNG defence holds firm.
England have their first try in nearly 50 minutes. Knowles’ try is scrappy and unconvincing, but England are finally on the board in the second half. Smith adds the conversion and England seal the six-point haul.
Smith kicks out on the full... That sums up England’s second-half display. They have made countless errors today and it’s costing them.
England’s frustration is really growing as Savala knocks on, before Lewis gets in a scuffle with some PNG players. Brimson’s excellent defensive work prevents another PNG try.
Ashton breaks into acres of space for England, but he’s apprehended by a fantastic ankle tap tackle from Laybutt. An ambitious crossfield kick finds Young, but he’s swarmed by the PNG defence.
Dotoi thinks he’s over the line for a third PNG try, but Brimson makes a pivotal last-ditch tackle to stop his opponent from legally grounding the ball.
England concede back-to-back penalties in quick succession through Ashton’s high tackle and another for foolishly interfering with the ruck, allowing two PNG attacks to be reset. It’s wave after wave of PNG pressure at the moment.
The whole crowd thought Voro was through to score! Inside PNG’s half, Litten knocks on and the ball breaks to Voro, who looked poised to make an epic sprint to the line. However, he can’t get it under his spell and England survive.
This has suddenly turned desperate for England. Those two Papua New Guinea tries have all but crushed England’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals. England are getting very close to ‘needing a miracle’ territory.
England just can’t break down PNG. A ruck infringement resets England’s attack, giving them another six tackles to score. PNG wrestle the ball from Farnworth and force England back into their own half, before Martin’s high tackle relieves the pressure on McDermott’s beleaguered side.
England’s World Cup dreams are in tatters. After assisting the first try with a clever kick, Voro drives forward and pierces the England defence, before he gets over the line to score. Once again, Martin adds the extras to secure PNG’s second converted try and halve the deficit.
England’s productivity has dried up. They’re lacking attacking inspiration and that converted PNG try will be a massive psychological blow for McDermott’s men.
Disaster for England. Voro loops a very high kick into the air from the 20-metre line. Dotoi beats three England players to rise the highest off the ground to catch it, before grounding the ball in magnificent fashion. Martin adds a brilliant conversion from the right touchline to secure the full six points.
A successful captain’s challenge from PNG sees Farnworth penalised after interfering with play from an offside position to force a knock-on.
Sloppy start to the second half from England as Williams and Nsemba are both penalised for poor tackles. PNG launch an attack and win with four tackles remaining, Darby rises highest to catch a cross pitch kick, but can’t ground the ball cleanly under pressure. England preserve their clean sheet but still desperately need points of their own.
We are back under way for the second half. Can England close the gap on Samoa’s points advantage with a huge display here against PNG?
England were guilty of trying to force it in the last 20 minutes of that half. They stormed out of the traps to go to 22-0 with only 22 minutes gone, but then could only add a penalty right on the verge of half-time as the contracted a nasty case of white-line fever. England are looking for at least a 60-point margin and would have taken this score at the break. But after their remarkable start, it could and should be so much better.
England flew into a 22-point lead after 22 minutes thanks to a blistering start which yielded four tries. However, after that, PNG tightened up their defence and frustrated their opponents, forcing numerous attacking mistakes from England, who need a massive second-half performance.
Williams is tackled by MacDonald, who was in an offside position. Given the time on the clock, England choose to kick the penalty. From a central position, Savala boots it through the posts to give England an extra two points just before half-time.
England get within touching distance of the try line, but Walters drops Knowles’ pass and the attacking opportunity annoyingly disappears. Can England score a fifth try before half-time? It looks quite unlikely at the moment. More and more errors are creeping into their play.
PNG’s second period of attacking pressure ends without a try. Despite England’s attacking dry spell, they still look very solid defensively.
On England’s last play, Williams chips the ball into the air, but Darby catches it and wins a foul after being tackled in the air by Ashton. England have been frustrated in an attacking sense since scoring four tries in the opening 21 minutes. They’re starting to look a little rushed and need to retrieve their offensive rhythm.
PNG knock-on gifts England another scrum feed near the 20-metre line. First off, Nsemba drives to the line but is tackled. The ball is then worked out wide to the right towards the pacey Young, who is ambushed by multiple PNG bodies as he desperately launches towards the try line. He can’t ground the ball in a controlled fashion and England lose out on the points.
Blistering start by England, who are clearly not going to leave Australia wondering. Whatever else Brian McDermott gets to take from this World Cup - and, in this form, he would dearly love to take on the Kangaroos - he at least knows that he has a gem in AJ Brimson. The full-back has carried on where he left off in last week’s player-of-the-match display.
The first spell of sustained PNG pressure see them gets within a few metres of England’s try line on their last play, but McDermott’s side are spread well across the back to make the tackle and retrieve possession.
England are on fire. Pearce-Paul’s physicality overpowers PNG’s backline and he breaks their defensive line, before offloading to Williams to score. Savala records his third conversion and England are racking up the points at a tremendous rate.
That is so well worked! A flowing team move sees Smith, Williams and Savala combine, creating space out wide for Young, who makes a simple dash to the line to score. Savala’s kick hangs ever so slightly right and narrowly evades the post, meaning England will have to settle for just the four points from that passage of play.
England force a drop from PNG and turn the ball over. Farnworth and Brimson then lead the charge. Savala receives the ball on the right on the last play and attempts an incredibly tricky offload to Young, but his pass spins out.
With PNG’s defence stretched, Brimson gathers the ball just outside the 10-metre line and shrugs off a tackle before dashing over the line to score. Savala clinically bags the conversion from the other touchline on the lift and England have a 12-point advantage.
England had to wait over 20 minutes before breaking the deadlock against France. They’ve made a very positive and confident start.
Some much-needed early points. Farnworth’s brilliant run attracts pressure, before a well-timed pass opens up space on the right of PNG’s defence for Ashton to exploit. He finishes tremendously to score in the corner. Savala adds the extras with a terrific kick out wide, allowing England to bank the full six points.
PNG come forward, with Dotoi sprinting down England’s left-hand side to score, but a previous forward pass sees the try ruled out.
Early mistake from PNG as Darby spills the ball forward, gifting England a scrum and a chance to kickstart their first attack. England then win a penalty metres out from the tryline, but, given their need for points, they decline to kick. Nsemba drives forward and offloads to AJ Brimson, who knocks the ball on before Farnworth collects and gets over the line to score. However, the try is ruled out.
We are under way in a very windy Wollongong. England know what they need to do.
Last week it took England more than 20 minutes to break down France and score their first points in the 82-0 mauling that has given fresh hope of making it to the semi-finals. It could be the same against Papua New Guinea - or worse. The Kumulas actually led against Samoa last Saturday and it must be noted that rugby league is their national sport. England are 68 points behind Samoa in points difference and that will be the aim. But the bookies are only giving PNG 37 points in the handicap, so Brian McDermott’s men will have to defy expectations.
England and Papua New Guinea are out on the pitch to a rousing reception from the crowd. Kick-off is just minutes away now.
England are eliminated from the Women’s World Cup at the group stage following a 24-6 loss to Samoa, who will play New Zealand in the semi-finals.
Speaking at his Thursday press conference, the England head coach said: “We’ve got a specific task this weekend. I think it’ll be a stiffer test than it was against France.
“We once again find ourselves in another similar situation, very unique as well, that we don’t just need to beat them, we need to beat them convincingly.
“If we’re going to go through, we need to score the points, but we can’t get to the points first.
“We’ve got to get to the physicality first and we’re going to manage a very physical team, a very dominant team.
“There’s a discipline in that we don’t start looking for things or searching for things outside of how we want to play.
“That was really impressive against France because we knew we had points in us and they weren’t coming in that first 20 [minutes]. We didn’t try to do anything different.
“Every team, and I’ve been involved in so many teams, where you’re winning by a large margin and you either take your foot off the gas because we think it’s job done or you start to overplay.
“But against France we stuck to the game model and just put it on rinse and repeat.”
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of England’s final group outing of the Rugby League World Cup as they tackle Papua New Guinea in Wollongong.
Last time out, England avenged their 30-12 defeat to Tonga with a resounding 82-0 victory over France to keep their slim hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive.
For Brian McDermott’s side to guarantee their progression from the group, they need to beat PNG by at least 68 points and pray that Tonga overcome Samoa. Less than 68 and they’ll need an even bigger favour from Tonga, who would need to defeat Samoa by a massive sum to help England reduce their eye-watering points deficit. If Samoa win, England will be eliminated, given their inferior head-to-head record against Tonga. Samoa and Tonga don’t play each other until Sunday, so, for the time being, England must fully concentrate on themselves and their side of the bargain.
Ahead of this must-win fixture against PNG, Mikey Lewis, who scored two late tries in the France thrashing off the bench, said: “We just have to go out and do what we have planned. It will be a tough game, but we have the strike and desire. We have a fighting chance, we believe in that. So, we just have to put the hard work in. It is a unique position, so just enjoy that.”
Lewis’ impressive cameo sees him earn another place on the bench, while Morgan Knowles is poised for his first appearance of the tournament after missing the previous two matches through injury, and he’ll replace Victor Radley. Jez Litten and Morgan Knowles have been brought in to start, while Matty Ashton also begins the contest. Brad O’Neill, Kallum Watkins and Zach Eckersley are among the interchanges. Unsurprisingly, Dom Young and Herbie Farnworth, who both scored hat-tricks against France, as well as the irrepressible AJ Brimson, all start and will be expected to lead England’s attacking charge in a game where every point matters.
Kick-off for this crucial Pool B+C clash is at 9:05 GMT, with team news following now.
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