McDermott seeks fix as England fight to save their World Cup — SkimNews
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- England fell 30-12 to Tonga in Perth in their 2026 Rugby League World Cup opener, conceding four tries and handing Tonga their first win in seven meetings between the sides.
- Brian McDermott, appointed in April as Shaun Wane's successor, blamed "handling errors, needless offloads, sloppy penalties" but insisted the issues were fixable and that England must win their next two games to stay alive.
- England entered the tournament without a warm-up match — this was their first game since losing to Australia in November 2025 and they have not won since beating Samoa in November 2024.
- Selection choices came under scrutiny after McDermott paired Harry Smith with captain George Williams in the halves and picked AJ Brimson over Jack Welsby at full-back; Brimson scored England's first try but was caught out of position for Tonga's fourth.
- Group-stage math complicates the path: six nations in combined Group B-C play only three opponents each, with the top two advancing and head-to-head as the first tiebreaker — meaning points difference could become decisive.
- Wing Dom Young said England need to "rack up some points," signaling that big margins over France (next Saturday) and Papua New Guinea (30 October) may matter even if England win both.
Why it matters: England's World Cup campaign now hinges on two must-win games after a 30-12 loss that exposed handling errors and selection choices McDermott pledged to revisit before Tuesday's France lineup. Tonga's first win in seven meetings with England punished a side that hadn't played since November 2025 and arrived without a warm-up fixture.
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