McDermott likens England travel to Steve Martin comedy — SkimNews
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- Brian McDermott said England's travel to their Perth World Cup base took almost 48 hours and resembled the convoluted journey in the 1987 film "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," forcing him to cut Monday's training session short
- England completed just two full training sessions before their 30-12 defeat by Tonga, their first match since losing the third Ashes Test to Australia at Headingley in November 2025 under predecessor Shaun Wane
- The travel route featured a bus from northern England to London, a flight to Singapore, then almost eight hours to Sydney, and a final flight back to Western Australia rather than a direct Singapore-to-Perth hop
- England's points difference is 92 worse than Samoa's in the combined Pool B and C standings after Samoa's 78-4 win over France, leaving McDermott's side needing victories over France and Papua New Guinea plus favorable results elsewhere to reach the semi-finals
- McDermott attributed the unusual tournament format to France's late withdrawal as hosts for financial reasons, forcing Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea to step in and reduce the competition to 10 teams
- Matty Ashton (Warrington) will start on the wing against France in place of Wigan's Zach Eckersley, with McDermott naming an otherwise unchanged 19-man squad for Saturday's 07:35 BST kick-off at HBF Park, Perth
Why it matters: England's travel itinerary was planned by the International Rugby League, not McDermott's staff, and left a squad already short on match fitness with effectively no preparation time — a structural disadvantage that, combined with the unbalanced pool format born of France's last-minute hosting exit, has left the team needing outside results to survive the group stage.
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