England Matches in 2023

[StandOffHalf]

''preliminary competition''????

Sheesh, and in an official press release. Call it the European Championship, and say that it doubles as a qualifying competition.

[welshmagpie]

3 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

''preliminary competition''????

Sheesh, and in an official press release. Call it the European Championship, and say that it doubles as a qualifying competition.

Talk about cheapen it, right!

Treat it like football treat their Euros and we may just get somewhere!

[UTK]

44 minutes ago, welshmagpie said:

At the same time, our journalists and news outlets should be doing all they can to promote the 2023 Euros - which England (in some form) will be partaking 

https://www.intrl.sport/news/road-to-france-rlwc2025-qualifying-process-announced/

Imagine if the unthinkable happened and England didn't make it past the Group stages.

Can't throw the Knights in to qualify for England because they aren't a full international team - what is the contingency plan here?

[crashmon]

England will make the QF's.  Would be a huge shock not to, RL just does not have enough teams at the top level for England to miss out

[Barley Mow]

8 minutes ago, crashmon said:

England will make the QF's.  Would be a huge shock not to, RL just does not have enough teams at the top level for England to miss out

You don't think it's feasible they are beaten by Samoa and France?

I think it's unlikely, but France are one of the strongest teams ranked 3rd in a group and upsets happen.

[Eddie]

5 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

You don't think it's feasible they are beaten by Samoa and France?

I think it's unlikely, but France are one of the strongest teams ranked 3rd in a group and upsets happen.

I can’t see France beating England in England, I wouldn’t put any money on it at 20/1. 

[crashmon]

France won't beat England, TBH Samoa won't either..   Both teams will however keep england close, but in the end England will prevail.

England, Aus, NZ and one other will be in SF.  Not convinced it will be Tonga

[crashmon]

France could beatSamoa however, its possible you will see England / France in the QF.
 

Edited July 27, 2022 by crashmon

[Eddie]

7 minutes ago, crashmon said:

France won't beat England, TBH Samoa won't either..   Both teams will however keep england close, but in the end England will prevail.

England, Aus, NZ and one other will be in SF.  Not convinced it will be Tonga

Must admit I’m terrified that Samoa will beat England, meaning we could easily go out with a whimper in the QF and RL in this country would miss the opportunity of a lifetime.  An England final against Aus or NZ, at a packed Old Trafford on BBC1 could really capture the imagination of the nation. Even my Mum would watch that. 

[crashmon]

Its hard to judge where England actually are regarding the world cup.  Games vs made up teams are not really a good judge, and France are not close enough yet to really challenge England (they are Improving year on year).  I feel that they will just have too much for the Pacific Island teams, that includes Tonga..   They wont be blow outs, but I expect at least a 2 score win vs Samoa, and similar to France.

Do think there will be upsets in the WC, but I don't think England will be an upset, I see them in the Final (don't see them winning it however)

France could beat Samoa for 2nd however, and it could be an Eng vs NZ final but we can see...

Of course my tipping skills are legandary (just look at my recent tippings for my local club London Broncos, to see where your money should go, I know @Cowboy is making money off my London tips

[UTK]

20 hours ago, crashmon said:

England will make the QF's.  Would be a huge shock not to, RL just does not have enough teams at the top level for England to miss out

I think it's extremely unlikely, but I also wouldn't have predicted England losing the 2013 warm-up to Italy or even losing to the CNAS last year (doubt many if any of that team will play in the WC). There's form of England playing to the level of their opponents - both dropping their level against a lower-quality side or rising vs an Australia in a WC Final.

The point was moreso that the pinnacle international competition in Europe shouldn't be an afterthought and Englands participation as biggest power in Europe should be guaranteed, not simply a result of an unlikely situation forcing their hand.

[jim_57]

2 hours ago, UTK said:

I think it's extremely unlikely, but I also wouldn't have predicted England losing the 2013 warm-up to Italy or even losing to the CNAS last year (doubt many if any of that team will play in the WC). There's form of England playing to the level of their opponents - both dropping their level against a lower-quality side or rising vs an Australia in a WC Final.

The point was moreso that the pinnacle international competition in Europe shouldn't be an afterthought and Englands participation as biggest power in Europe should be guaranteed, not simply a result of an unlikely situation forcing their hand.

Depending on the format they could play both, 3 Euro Cup games (4 teams no final) then 3 test series Vs NZ. They will play 7 this year if the make the final so not unheard of.

NZ have in the past played Australia before leaving, they could do that and/or Tonga and maybe France before the series.

[Dave T]

2 hours ago, UTK said:

I think it's extremely unlikely, but I also wouldn't have predicted England losing the 2013 warm-up to Italy or even losing to the CNAS last year (doubt many if any of that team will play in the WC). There's form of England playing to the level of their opponents - both dropping their level against a lower-quality side or rising vs an Australia in a WC Final.

The point was moreso that the pinnacle international competition in Europe shouldn't be an afterthought and Englands participation as biggest power in Europe should be guaranteed, not simply a result of an unlikely situation forcing their hand.

World Cup qualifiers are a great chance to add some structure to the international game. Using the previous tournament as qualification is us taking shortcuts again. 

[Mojo]

On 27/07/2022 at 23:50, crashmon said:

Its hard to judge where England actually are regarding the world cup.  Games vs made up teams are not really a good judge, and France are not close enough yet to really challenge England (they are Improving year on year).  I feel that they will just have too much for the Pacific Island teams, that includes Tonga..   They wont be blow outs, but I expect at least a 2 score win vs Samoa, and similar to France.

Do think there will be upsets in the WC, but I don't think England will be an upset, I see them in the Final (don't see them winning it however)

France could beat Samoa for 2nd however, and it could be an Eng vs NZ final but we can see...

Of course my tipping skills are legandary (just look at my recent tippings for my local club London Broncos, to see where your money should go, I know @Cowboy is making money off my London tips

You must only watch the SL to think the french will beat the island teams. Did you forget that england just beat the tongans the last world cup by a whisker? The French definitely won't beat the samoan team. I don't think they can beat the cook island full strength squad at the world cup tbh. Samoan team will have at least 9 origin players added to the current squad. The English should be worried

[UTK]

21 hours ago, jim_57 said:

Depending on the format they could play both, 3 Euro Cup games (4 teams no final) then 3 test series Vs NZ. They will play 7 this year if the make the final so not unheard of.

NZ have in the past played Australia before leaving, they could do that and/or Tonga and maybe France before the series.

Absolutely, if they do manage to do that then it's a credit to them and I take back my criticism - But England in their entire history have never played 7 Internationals in a calendar year outside of WC years, so It would be quite a ground-breaking decision.

[Phil W]

A three test series against New Zealand is something to get excited about not so sure about one fixture mid-season though, you don't build much in a one off game.

Hopefully London or Newcastle can host one of the New Zealand games. 

[SydneyRoosters]

3 hours ago, Mojo said:

You must only watch the SL to think the french will beat the island teams. Did you forget that england just beat the tongans the last world cup by a whisker? The French definitely won't beat the samoan team. I don't think they can beat the cook island full strength squad at the world cup tbh. Samoan team will have at least 9 origin players added to the current squad. The English should be worried

France would easily put 30-40 points on the Cook Islands you have no idea what you’re talking about and England will destroy Samoa.

[Mojo]

9 minutes ago, SydneyRoosters said:

France would easily put 30-40 points on the Cook Islands you have no idea what you’re talking about and England will destroy Samoa.

The only samoan team the french can beat are the samoan u9s

[crashmon]

3 hours ago, Mojo said:

You must only watch the SL to think the french will beat the island teams. Did you forget that england just beat the tongans the last world cup by a whisker? The French definitely won't beat the samoan team. I don't think they can beat the cook island full strength squad at the world cup tbh. Samoan team will have at least 9 origin players added to the current squad. The English should be worried

TBH I don't watch SL at all, apart from the Cats games when they are on. On England I just think that as long as they keep there discipline and complete sets they should have enough to beat Samoa or any of the PI Sides, England have enough quality

 

 

[Eddie]

4 hours ago, Mojo said:

You must only watch the SL to think the french will beat the island teams. Did you forget that england just beat the tongans the last world cup by a whisker? The French definitely won't beat the samoan team. I don't think they can beat the cook island full strength squad at the world cup tbh. Samoan team will have at least 9 origin players added to the current squad. The English should be worried

They won’t be assuming they’ll win the Samoa game mate. 

[SydneyRoosters]

20 minutes ago, Mojo said:

The only samoan team the french can beat are the samoan u9s

Like I said you have no idea what you’re talking about France vs Samoa will likely be a very close game and I could see France causing an upset.

[Mojo]

12 minutes ago, crashmon said:

TBH I don't watch SL at all, apart from the Cats games when they are on. On England I just think that as long as they keep there discipline and complete sets they should have enough to beat Samoa or any of the PI Sides, England have enough quality

 

 

The English are a classy side and the Samoans will definitely have their hands full that's for sure. As a samoan supporter I'm more excited than worried against the English. I enjoyed the 2017 game even tho we lost it was fun watching a samoan team playing a tier 1 nation

[Mojo]

1 minute ago, SydneyRoosters said:

Like I said you have no idea what you’re talking about France vs Samoa will likely be a very close game and I could see France causing an upset.

You're right I haven't watched much of the french games/players to really judge them. I hope it's a entertaining game. I  hope the 2 French teams in the SL are producing quality French players to make them a dominant rugby league nation like they used to be in the past

[SydneyRoosters]

Just now, Mojo said:

You're right I haven't watched much of the french games/players to really judge them. I hope it's a entertaining game. I  hope the 2 French teams in the SL are producing quality French players to make them a dominant rugby league nation like they used to be in the past

France now have a great team full of quality super league players. They have a fantastic spine and are a very flashy team who can score points

[crashmon]

There is a large gap now between France and the other NH sides (apart from England obv).  So its only really France who could cause an upset here. If the third team was wales or Ireland in Englands group then we would not be considering them to have any chance vs Samoa

So Samoa have the potential to beat England (but Samoa are underdogs)

France have the potential to beat Samoa (but France are underdogs)

I think the gap is too big still between England and France, but France could run england close for 60 mins or so, but can;t see an upset here.

However should Samoa finish second, and play Tonga, all bets are off, Samoa could potantially make the semi's here, even if they don't manage to get past England

Edited July 29, 2022 by crashmon