England at the Rugby League World Cup

About England in rugby league

England took over as the World Cup's primary British representative side once the Great Britain team stopped regular selection after 1995, and has reached two World Cup finals in that role — 1995 (as co-hosts, losing to Australia) and 2017 (losing 6-0 to Australia in Brisbane). In the 2021/2022 tournament England were stunned 27-26 by Samoa in a golden-point semi-final at the Emirates Stadium, one of the biggest upsets of that World Cup and the result that sent Samoa to their first ever final instead. England's men's team has never won a men's World Cup outright since taking over from Great Britain as the country's primary representative side, making the 1995 and 2017 final defeats — both to Australia — the closest the side has come. England was first fielded separately from Great Britain specifically for the 1995 World Cup, a change driven partly by a wish to field Wales as its own side too and make use of the large pool of Welsh-born players then in the English domestic competition. The two teams coexisted awkwardly for over a decade, with Great Britain still touring and England appearing only in selected tournaments, until the RFL formally retired regular Great Britain selection after the 2007 All Golds tour and made England, Wales and Scotland permanent separate sides.

Sources

• England 26-27 Samoa — BBC Sport
• England national rugby league team — Wikipedia