England beat France 50-38 in the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup final at the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong yesterday, Friday, November 13, 2026. The full story of that final, Joe Coyd’s four tries, Jack Brown’s hat-trick off the bench and the late three-try finish that settled it, is in the original iimiTV report. What has settled overnight is how this title was built, and what the numbers and the people inside the camp say about it now.
FINAL: England 50, France 38
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England Wheelchair World Cup Win Was Four Years In The Making
The word England refused to use for four years was defend. In BBC Sport’s inside account of the win, head coach Tom Coyd explained that from the moment England lifted the trophy in Manchester in November 2022, he steered the group away from the language of defence and retention and toward a hunter’s mindset, built around sharks and lifeguards: attack the attack without the ball, and with it, be a shark smelling blood in the water.
I think your reality is the story that you tell yourself. We found that framing to be defensive, to be a bit passive, and knowing that we have been world number one since November 2022, we wanted to come in with an attacking mindset and with a hunter’s mindset.
The tournament numbers back the framing. England scored 386 points across the group stage and semi-finals while conceding just 68, then put 50 on France in the final itself. The ladder in the team room, spray-painted gold rung by rung with every win, was the visual version of the same idea: every game a step forward, never a title being guarded. The BBC Sport highlights below show the finish the plan produced, from Coyd’s early double to Brown’s diving try on half-time.
Lewis King And A Team With Leaders Everywhere
The plan was stress-tested thirty minutes into the final, when France turned a 10-0 deficit into a 22-10 lead with four straight tries. England recovered to lead 28-22 at the break, and the moment the camp keeps returning to is a short half-time huddle led by captain Lewis King. Coyd called King the talisman of the group, the player whose steadiness and composure the rest feed off, and whose presence, in the coach’s words, is everything for this team.
The structure underneath that calm is unusual. Joe Coyd revealed that his brother Tom has not been in the changing room for the final messages all tournament, a deliberate act of trust in a squad full of leaders. Brown made the same point from the other side of the dressing room in England Rugby League’s official report, saying the team never missed a rousing speech because it knew what it had to do. His own verdict on the night was simpler: an out of body moment, and a thank you to every member of staff and every supporter in the corner, whose World Cup he called it as much as the players.
The Numbers That Settled Overnight
The full stat line for the player of the final is now on the record. The final’s settled match numbers credit Joe Coyd with a match-high four tries, 40 tackles, five line breaks and 152 run metres, a two-way performance that explains why France could never quite close the gap in the second half. The 50 points also set a record of their own: England are the first team ever to score 50 points in a Wheelchair World Cup decider.
England’s champions graphic, published with the NRL’s official final report.
The rankings picture settled the same night. Based on the Wollongong results, the NRL’s official report projects England first in the IRL wheelchair world rankings, ahead of France, Australia, Ireland and Wales, with the official list to be published after the last international of 2026, Philippines against Japan in late November. Rob Hawkins was also presented with his IRL Golden Boot trophy at full-time, his third, before the medals went on.
What Comes Next For England, France And Australia
France leave with a familiar ache and a coach, Cyril Torres, who gave the champions their due, saying England proved how good they are again. Coyd returned the respect, saying France looked hungrier than he has ever seen them, which is its own warning for the next cycle: the gap between the only two nations ever to win this trophy is not widening on its own.
Australia celebrate the bronze medal win over Ireland on finals day in Wollongong. Photo via LeagueNews.co finals coverage.
Australia, beaten 86-18 by England in the semi-final, closed their tournament with a 70-24 bronze medal win over Ireland, and their captain Bayley McKenna was already looking at 2030 in the NRL’s report: keep a core of five or six players together, regroup, review and rebuild, with Peter Arbuckle having played his last World Cup. The next international wheelchair tests are scheduled for autumn 2027, which gives England a long first year as champions and gives everyone else a long time to think about Wollongong.
England, meanwhile, fly home as the first nation to win this trophy three times, the first England team in rugby league to win back-to-back World Cups, and world number one since November 2022. Four years of refusing to defend anything produced the most attacking final the wheelchair game has staged. The sharks, it turns out, were the point.
