Brian McDermott has conceded England’s hopes of reaching the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals may already be over, the head coach blaming the tournament’s “harsh” format and their opening loss to Tonga. The World Cup has been reduced to 10 nations, down from 16 four years ago. That is largely due to financial reasons after the hosts Australia stepped in following France’s withdrawal.
That has led to a unique format, with different levels of jeopardy for different nations based on their respective group. England are in the three-nation Group B but only the top two from a combined six-team table featuring Groups B and C will progress to the semi-finals. Defeat to Tonga last weekend has made it difficult for England to qualify, with expected victories against France on Saturday and Papua New Guinea next week unlikely to be enough.
To progress, Tonga must beat Samoa next weekend and then hope England can win their two group games by a bigger margin than the Samoans. McDermott conceded that the odds are stacked against his side, and was critical of the format. Nothing has gone wrong, it’s just a harsh competition in which you’ve got to hit the ground running, which we didn’t do.
If France held the World Cup, there would have been more teams in it and it would have been more like the usual format. I completely understand that if it has to be reduced to a 10-team competition. It’s not the easiest thing to do and we end up with situations like this.
If you lose one game, you don’t really get a chance to fix it. It’s tough because we’ve lost one game and we now need to rely on other results if we are to go through.” In contrast, New Zealand are in the four-team Group A where two teams progress, and despite losing to Australia last week, wins over Fiji and Cook Islands will secure qualification. England’s 30-12 defeat to Tonga has drawn criticism but McDermott had promised his side would try to play a more enterprising brand of rugby.
Also England had been in Australia for a matter of days, after a brutal 48-hour journey to reach their camp in Perth. That is perhaps why McDermott has resisted the temptation for wholesale changes, with the Warrington winger, Matty Ashton, replacing Zach Eckersley in the sole change to the starting lineup. England may be going home in a fortnight barring a minor miracle, but McDermott is upbeat about the national team’s long-term prospects.
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