It was a week of highs and lows for England men and women in the Rugby League World Cup, with England women's massive 70-4 win over Wales women being followed by a tough 30-12 loss for England against Tonga. Both England teams are considered underdogs to make it through to the semi-finals, with the task now getting even greater for the men's side after that loss to what looks to be potentially the strongest Tonga team we have ever seen. Meanwhile, England women prep for Australia - a feat that will be their biggest to date. So, what did we learn from their openers and what can we expect moving forward into week two?
England men had a clear tactic in their match against Tonga - second phase play. They were offloading the ball freely and constantly trying to create opportunity and space. In all fairness, it worked and got them into try-scoring positions on the field.
In the first half in particular, they looked a real attacking threat. That is, until they got within the opposition's 20 metres. It was then, that their last play options and attacking options, let them down.
They had 27 offloads compared to Tonga's five. They had 246 passes compared to Tonga's 191. Despite that, they made over 70 more tackles than Tonga and not only that, they put up just five bombs - Tonga had 12.
They did not pressurise and become clinical in the moments that mattered and it meant that, when momentum went the other way, they had no points on the board to show for their pressure. At 10-6 down, they conceded one of the luckiest tries from a kick you might see - a ricochet of the flukiest variety. Brian McDermott admitted that his style of play was risky.
He said that they would try things and sometimes they would come off and sometimes they would not. In the first half, England had made nine errors while Tonga had made just three. There seemed to be a spark to England, a flair somewhat for 80 metres of the pitch but in the final 20, ideas faded away.
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