England's Path to Rugby League World Cup Semi-Finals

England's hopes of reaching the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals rested on an encounter between Samoa and Tonga, as Brian McDermott's side looked to keep their chances alive. An opening defeat to an impressive Tonga placed England on the back foot in Australia. With only two teams progressing from a joint table of Pools B and C, McDermott’s men rebounded strongly with an 82-0 thrashing of France. However, a slightly curious format meant their last-four fate was entirely out of their hands.

If Samoa avoided defeat against Tonga in Sydney on Sunday, England would be knocked out — with head-to-head being the first tiebreaker in the pool stage table. The best England could hope for in such a scenario was to be level on points with Tonga, a team they had already lost to. This relied upon England beating Papua New Guinea in Wollongong on Friday, but the margin of victory in their final pool-stage outing could prove important as well.

Should Tonga defeat their Pacific Island rivals at the weekend, it would place England level on points with Samoa, having not played one another during the tournament. This would mean the second spot in the merged pool would be decided based on points difference. Entering the final round of fixtures, England was 68 points worse off than Samoa, who had already beaten France and Papua New Guinea at the World Cup.

In 16 previous men's tournaments, England or Great Britain had never once finished outside the top four places. "What we have done today is enormous, given the context," McDermott said after the victory over France. "Knowing we had to win big - and we have had candid conversations about that this week - we have accomplished that without getting hot. Everything was measured and planned.

"Whatever the results next week, we have to finish strong - if we go home next week, we will be disappointed, but I'm not sure what else we could have done."

Meanwhile, the permutations in the four-team Pool A were more straightforward. Australia had already booked their spot as the top seed into the second semi-final thanks to hard-fought wins over New Zealand and Fiji. The Kiwis would join them, provided they beat the Fijians on the Gold Coast on Saturday. The World Cup final was scheduled for Brisbane on Saturday 15 November.