FINAL: England 134, USA 0
England’s record win over the United States in Wollongong is a day old, and the morning after has a different shape than the rout itself. Yesterday, Tuesday, November 3, the holders scored 23 tries in a 134-0 win that stands as the biggest in their history and booked a semi-final place with a group game to spare, as the full match story reported. Today the tournament around them has caught up: the official scoring card is settled, and Friday’s two pool deciders now decide who England face in the last four.
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England rated their own performance at seven out of ten, up from five for the opening win over Wales, and player of the match Finlay O’Neill finished with 38 points. The highlights, from BBC Sport’s official coverage, show how one-sided it was.
England 134-0 USA: The Card Is Settled
The complete scoring record, confirmed in the tournament’s official match data, underlines the spread of the performance. Four tries each went to captain Mason Billington, Chris Haynes and Luis Domingos, whose haul came on his first appearance of the tournament. Jack Brown and Tristan Norfolk scored three apiece, Joe Coyd and O’Neill two each, and Lewis King completed the 23-try tally. O’Neill landed 15 conversions from 16 attempts and Coyd the other six, for 21 goals in all, while the United States, playing its second match of the World Cup, had a claimed Gabriel Lee try chalked off by the officials to preserve the shutout.
Friday Decides Who England Face
How to watch: England vs Ireland, Friday, November 6, 6:00 a.m. GMT (5:00 p.m. AEDT) at WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
TV (Australia): Seven Network and 7plus
TV (UK): Premier Sports
England close their group campaign against Ireland on Friday, with both sides unbeaten and the winner taking top place in Pool A and the Pool B runner-up in the semi-finals. Ireland warmed up by beating Wales 68-28, a game that turned on seven tries in the final 20 minutes after Wales had stayed within two points, and their captain is treating Friday as a foundation rather than a free hit. “This is a game, a dominant game, that we can work from,” Joseph Calcott told NRL.com after scoring six tries against the Welsh. O’Neill has his own edge in the fixture: several of his Halifax Panthers teammates line up for Ireland, and he said after the USA game that “there’s that bit of bad blood” to settle.
France And Australia Settle A 2022 Score
The other decider carries the tournament’s best grudge. France beat Australia 84-40 in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, and the Wheelaroos have waited four years for another shot, which arrives in Friday night’s final Pool B game. France have passed 100 points in both of their matches, 114-0 against Scotland and 120-10 against New Zealand, with Jeremy Bourson scoring 13 tries across the two games. Australia’s answer has been Adam Tannock, whose six tries against Scotland came while playing with a broken finger he suffered in a July training camp and has not stopped to let heal.
“We haven’t played France since 2022 but we’ve played England a couple of times and come pretty close to the reigning champs. So you could say we’re eager. We know we control our path to this World Cup’s finals. But we need to put it all together against France.”
That was Zac Schumacher, who scored twice in that 2022 semi-final and crossed again against Scotland. The official Rugby League World Cup highlights of the England rout are below.
The semi-finals follow on Monday, November 9, with the final on Friday, November 13, all of it in Wollongong. England have reached the final at every previous edition of this tournament, and nothing about the morning after a record win changes the reading of this one: the holders are the team to beat, and by Friday night everyone will know exactly which heavyweight gets the first shot at them.
