World Cup 2017: England

Great Britain was a RL team for many decades. While it took players from across the UK, the vast majority were born in England. When GB was replaced by individual nations, England became the replacement for that entity. The statistics of GB I now include with England.

Report card: Having been to every WC, there is plenty of history to reminisce on. GB won the fist one in 1954, a highlights of which can be seen by clicking here. Well worth a look. In 1957, a second was achieved and 1960 a second WC was won. In 1968, a shock loss to France meant finishing third and in 1970 despite being the best team by some margin, somehow lost the final. In 1972 revenge was achieved with a third and last WC trophy.

In 1975, a close second followed by one point loss in the WC final in 1977. 1988 third was the result and in 1992 a four point loss in the final. In 1995, England made the final undefeated but lost the game that mattered. Then three consecutive WCs with semi final exits.

In 2017, a first up loss to Australia 18-4. The second game was a 29-10 win against Lebanon and 36-6 over France ended pool play. A 36-6 win over PNG and a narrow 20-18 victory at the expense of Tonga had them in the first final since 1995.

England have been solid but not overly convincing either. Good in patches sums it up.

Final ranking for the tournament: 1st to 4th (out of 14 teams).

Below is the WC results, the + and - figure at the bottom of each year not including play  off games.

54			57			60			68			70			72			75			77
W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L
3	1		1		2	3			1		2	3		1	3	1		5	2	1	2		2
+35			-15			+48			+4			+23			+49			+83			+23

88			92			95			00			08			13			17
W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L
4	2	2	5		4	4		1	3		2	1		3	3		2	4		1
+113			+142			+96			+102			-50			+56			+35

12th - 14th: Scotland, Wales, USA.
9th - 11th: France, Italy, Samoa.
5th - 8th: Ireland, Lebanon, New Zealand, PNG.
1st - 4th: Australia, England, Fiji, Tonga.