England Beat France To Win Third Wheelchair World Cup

Tries: England: Coyd 4, Brown 3, Hawkins 2. France: Denuwelaere 3, Bourson, L. Hivernat, Dore, Guttadoro
Half-time: England 28, France 22

England vs France Result: Three-Try Finish Settles The Final

The England vs France result was in doubt until the closing stages, which is exactly what this fixture has always promised. England flew out to a 10-0 lead inside eight minutes, Coyd crossing twice off French errors, a penalty for a late tackle and then a dropped ball. France answered the way they always do against England: three straight tries turned the game around and put the French 22-10 in front twelve minutes before half-time, with Jeremy Bourson among the scorers. The lead changed hands four times in all and the scores were locked three times.

England dragged themselves back before the break. Coyd completed his hat-trick, Rob Hawkins crossed, and right on half-time Hawkins kicked for Brown, who dived full-length to score and send England in 28-22 ahead. France struck first after it, Dany Denuwelaere scoring 99 seconds into the second half to level at 28-28, and his second-half hat-trick kept France within a score deep into the game. But the NRL’s official final report records the finish that settled it: Coyd and Brown working together to drive three of the last four tries, Brown crossing in the 62nd and 69th minutes, and England scoring nine tries to France’s seven. Denuwelaere’s third, a minute from time, was a consolation in a final that had already gone.

Coyd Named Player Of The Final With Four Tries

Coyd’s four tries bookended the night: the opening two that built the early lead, the hat-trick try that hauled England back into the game, and the fourth that restored a ten-point cushion when France were pressing at 34-28 down with 22 minutes left. His coach is his brother, head coach Tom Coyd, and the family story sits underneath a tournament England finished unbeaten, after group wins of 98-18 over Wales, 134-0 over the United States and 68-32 over Ireland, and an 86-18 semi-final rout of hosts Australia on Tuesday.

Brown’s part was just as large, and it came from the bench. His hat-trick makes him the one constant across England’s whole wheelchair history: he has played in all five Wheelchair World Cup finals, winning in 2008 and 2022 and losing to France in 2013 and 2017 before this third title. “That was an incredible display. It was so much fun playing with the guys,” Brown said afterwards, in England Rugby League’s official report. “Everyone was looking after each other. We said we had to sort of play lifeguard for each other; when one of us would drop, the other guys would go in and save them and when they dropped, someone else would put their hat on and go and save them, too.” Centre Mason Billington, who had been player of the match in the semi-final, was just as stunned: “It’s unbelievable, I can’t believe it, I’m so proud of the boys. I never in my wildest dreams imagined this could happen.”

Hawkins Collects Third Golden Boot At Full-Time

Hawkins scored England’s other two tries and converted as well, Nathan Collins landing six goals, but his night had a second ceremony waiting at the whistle. Hawkins was presented with his IRL Golden Boot trophy at full-time, the third time he has taken the honour, after becoming the first player in any form of rugby league to win three successive Golden Boots when the 2026 award was announced on Thursday. France’s coach, Cyril Torres, gave the champions their due: England “proved how good you are again,” he said, adding, “We tried and we have worked hard so I am still very proud.”

The wider picture underlines what England’s wheelchair side has carried this month. England’s men’s and women’s teams both went out in the group stage of this World Cup; the wheelchair team has now delivered the country’s one world title of the tournament, completing the climb England marked on a ladder in their team room, spray-painting a rung gold for every win until Friday’s final rung. Australia beat Ireland 70-24 in the third-place play-off earlier on Friday, and on the results in Wollongong the projected IRL wheelchair rankings put England first, ahead of France, Australia, Ireland and Wales, with the official list to be published after the last international of 2026 in late November.

Five Finals, One Rivalry, Three England Titles

Every Wheelchair World Cup final there has ever been, all five of them, has been England against France. England won the first in 2008, the last time the tournament was held in Australia, and France took the next two, in 2013 and 2017. The 2022 final in Manchester finished 28-24, won by Tom Halliwell’s try with three minutes left, and the two sides had split their four meetings since, two wins each, before Friday. The RFL’s official history of the night puts the two records plainly: England are the first nation to raise this trophy three times, and the first England team in the sport to secure back-to-back World Cup titles.

That is the level this final reached, a 50-38 game of chair smashes, running repairs and a reconstructed set of goalposts, between the only two nations who have ever won this trophy. England leave Wollongong as three-time world champions, and the next side that wants the title will have to take it off the team that has now won it in three different decades of finals against the same rivals.