Can England achieve the unthinkable and beat Australia to win the Rugby League World Cup?

Reaching their first final since 1995 and chasing their first title since Great Britain triumphed all the way back in 1972 – which, incidentally, was the last time a northern hemisphere side won the competition – England can be pretty damn pleased with how their tournament has gone, especially given how rocky their start was.



In what could be an ominous sign for Saturday’s face-off, England were roundly beaten by Australia in the competition’s curtain raiser. A 5th minute try from Jermaine McGillvary – who ,with 7 in total, sits at a Super Mega Player Try Minutes spread of 24-28 – seemed to suggest Wayne Bennett’s side were up for the scrap. Yet they couldn’t hold back the unrelenting Aussies, who went on to win 18-4.

The rest of England’s group games proceeded without much fuss, as they beat Lebanon 29-10 and France 36-6. Another 36-6 victory, this time against co-hosts Papua New Guinea, saw them breeze through the quarter-finals, setting up a semi against Group B winners Tonga. It was here England almost made a mess of things. By the 72nd minute they were leading 20-0; just 5 minutes later the score was 20-18, with Tonga controversially denied Andrew Fifita’s literally last second try as the ref ruled he had lost the ball.

The initial 5 minutes of their opening game aside Australia have suffered no such scares – instead the defending champions have absolutely bulldozed their way through the competition. They beat France 52-6 and Lebanon 34-0 in their other group games, hammered Samoa 46-0 in the quarters and made of mockery of Fiji in the semis, beating the Bati 54-6.

Leading the charge has been Valentine Holmes, who has a huge Super Mega Player Try Minutes Spread of 81-90. The 22 year-old had a slow start to the group stages, scoring just once against France. Yet in the knockouts he has been in truly awesome form, becoming the first Aussie to score 5 tries in one game against Samoa, only to beat his own record with 6 against Fiji. His 12 tries total takes him beyond the 10 scored by Wendell Sailor back in 2000, and leaves him just 4 behind Billy Slater’s all-time tally.

That England are the only side to prevent the Kangaroos from scoring more than 20 points in a single game gives Bennett and co. the thinnest sliver of hope to cling onto heading into Saturday morning. And thin that hope is, with Spreadex offering an Australia/England Points Supremacy spread of 14-17 alongside a Total Points spread of 38-41.