England Face Must-Win After Historic Tonga Loss — SkimNews
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- Brad O'Neill rejected claims England were underprepared for the World Cup, telling BBC Sport: "We had a great week of prep heading into the tournament — the better team won" against Tonga.
- England men face France in Perth on Saturday (07:35 BST) with an unchanged 19-man squad after their 30-12 opening loss to Tonga — their first defeat by the Pacific nation — left them needing wins in both remaining group games.
- Brian McDermott's side had only 14 days between the 2026 Super League Grand Final and the Tonga match, with no warm-up fixture, after flying to Australia 10 days before the opener.
- Harry Smith and George Williams retain their half-back spots despite being overpowered by Tonga, with Mikey Lewis — picked ahead of 2025 Man of Steel Jake Connor — again on the interchange.
- England women named 19-year-old Jenna Foubister at half-back for their clash with Australia, replacing Georgia Roche after her Woman of Steel season, with Izzy Rowe scoring 26 points (two tries, nine conversions) in a 70-6 opening win over Wales.
- Australia dropped Reece Walsh to the bench for Sunday's game against Fiji, with James Tedesco taking over at full-back and the captaincy — one of five changes by coach Kevin Walters, with Bradman Best, Sam Walker and Blayke Brailey all winning Test debuts.
- England's men likely need to win both remaining games "by a big score" to stand a realistic chance of progression and may not learn their semi-final fate until Tonga face 2022 finalists Samoa two days after their final group match.
Why it matters: With only the top two in the combined six-team Group B-C advancing, England's men now need big-margin wins over France and Papua New Guinea and may not know their semi-final fate until two days after their last match. The women's side confronts reigning champions Australia — the team that beat them 90-4 in Las Vegas in March 2025 — and Anna Davies said England "would be naive" not to expect another stiff test.
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