England out of Rugby League World Cup after Tonga beat Samoa

Tonga beat Samoa 20-18 in the final group match of the Rugby League World Cup, confirming the elimination of England's national team from the tournament. England, coached by Brian McDermott, played in the six-team pool (B and C combined) and missed the semi-finals despite winning two of their three matches.

England's hopes fade

England beat Papua New Guinea 34-12 on Friday, but needed a very large winning margin to overtake Samoa on points difference and reach the semi-finals. Their hopes depended on Tonga winning by more than 46 points, which would have taken England into the last four for the seventh tournament in a row.

England lost the opening match 30-12 to Tonga, and that proved costly. They then beat France 82-0 in the second round, but still had 68 points to make up on Samoa. The win over Papua New Guinea did not cut that gap significantly.

Tonga against Samoa

Tonga led 8-0 after Robert Toia scored the opening try following a sprint of nearly 50 metres. Isaiya Katoa converted and added a penalty. By half-time Samoa trailed 8-4 after a try by Brian To'o. Jojo Fifita then put Tonga 14-4 ahead, but To'o, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Ronald Volkman moved Samoa into a two-point lead. Addin Fonua-Blake won it for Tonga.

In the semi-finals Tonga will play New Zealand, while Samoa will face Australia in a repeat of the 2022 final.

Tournament format

The tournament has been cut from 16 teams to 10. Australia hosted it after France withdrew in 2023 for financial reasons. One pool has four teams (Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands and Fiji) and the other has six: England, Tonga, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Lebanon and France. The top two teams from each group reach the knockout rounds.

Sky Sports analyst Jon Wilkin called the structure fundamentally flawed, saying England essentially played their quarter-final in the first week.