Sky Sports' Jon Wilkin believes the Rugby League World Cup format is "fundamentally flawed" after England were left on the brink of their first group-stage exit in the tournament's history. England sealed a 34-12 victory against Papua New Guinea on Friday but needed to win by a margin of 68 points to give themselves a chance of leapfrogging Samoa in Pool B and C and advancing to the semi-finals on points difference. Now their hopes rest on Tonga, who face off against Samoa on Sunday.
England need Tonga to win by more than 46 points to secure a spot in the knockout stages. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player The new tournament structure, which has been downsized from 16 teams to 10, came after Australia stepped in as hosts following France's withdrawal in 2023 for financial reasons. It has effectively meant that each group game in Pool B and C has carried more jeopardy than before.
"Australia have done a great job to organise a tournament in such a short space of time, but it was fundamentally flawed, unfair in the extreme to the start," Wilkin said. "The actual competition structure is just diabolical. England were dealt an incredibly difficult task, because they essentially played their quarter-final in week one." The tournament has two pools, one featuring four teams - Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands and Fiji - and the other featuring six teams.
England were drawn in the second group, Pool B and C, alongside Tonga, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Lebanon and France. The top two teams from each group qualify for the knockout rounds, and in the event of a tie, teams are judged on their head-to-head record before points difference. Brian McDermott's side were beaten in their first match, a 30-12 defeat to Tonga, which put their hopes of qualifying in the balance, despite later thrashing France by 82 points in round two.
"England knew after their loss against Tonga that it was all going to be about points difference, and [qualifying] was going to be incredibly difficult," Wilkin said. "I think the structure and the setup of the competition was done in short notice. "I think the International Rugby League, who set up this tournament, have done an incredible job to get it on and actually and get in a position where we can have the tournament.
"So, I commend them for that, but I just think the tournament structure is laughable. There's a number of ways you could have manufactured or engineered a quarter-finals situation. "England should be in the quarter-finals, of the World Cup.
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