Tonga have defeated England 30-12 in the opening group match of the Rugby League World Cup. Here are five things we learnt.

Having been unable to score a point in the first half, England would eventually get over through AJ Brimson, who combined well with fellow NRL man Hugo Savala to take the scores to 10-6.

Another two Tonga tries, from Haumole Olakuatu and Tolutau Koula, saw the nation take a 16-point lead before a third penalty goal from Isaiya Katoa made the difference three converted tries.

Dominic Young added a score in the right corner to give England some hope of an unlikely comeback, but just like the first half too many opportunities went begging as Tonga’s defence were up to the test.

Kristian Woolf’s side added a fourth try through Olakuatu’s second, before a fourth penalty goal from Katoa gave the Tongans a 30-12 victory – their ninth consecutive win in the Rugby League World Cup group stages.

Five key takeaways from England v Tonga

Pack depleted as Knowles and Smithies missed:

Doing into the game, Tonga were always going to have the better of the two middles. The likes of Jason Taumalolo and Addin Fonua-Blake were at their aggressive best, and that was something that England couldn’t match.

Whilst they may not have won them the game, England certainly missed the NRL duo of Morgan Knowles and Morgan Smithies, both of whom would have brought aggression, mobility and strong defence.

Luke Thompson started the game in place of Knowles, who pulled out due to a calf injury. Had the Dolphins man been available, he would have led the kick chase, kick pressure and pressure from marker, something England severely lacked.

Smithies is an NRL regular and knows what it’s like to play at that intensity. He would have perhaps made more of a difference than someone like Ethan Havard, who gave away two key penalties under fatigue.

Same old England as attack fails again:

Brian McDermott’s radical new tactics were claimed to be just what England needed if they were going to lift the World Cup trophy. However, just like after every Ashes Test in 2025, we are left thinking ‘what if?’

England’s expansive play earned them territory in the first half, but with that came a recklessness with ball-in-hand and far too many handling errors that are just not acceptable at international level.

Making more line breaks and more metres, England’s offload count sat at 26, with their second-phase play getting them up the field. That plan was working well until they arrived in the Tongan red zone, where their attack was far too predicatable, slow and ineffective.

You have to credit the Tongan defence, they were exceptional, but for the second year running the pairing of George Williams and Harry Smith haven’t been able to get the job done

Where was Mikey?

That brings us on to our next point – where was the so-called “point of difference” Mikey Lewis?

The Hull KR man’s inclusion was controversial to say the least, but despite his flaws, he is a former Man of Steel winner and one of Super League’s best attacking players.

With both halves ineffective, having Lewis on the bench when 12 points down could have made a real difference to the game. Williams’ running threat was good at times, but Lewis is a master of unlocking defences with his agility, and not even having him on the bench is a poor call from McDermott.

Tongan atmosphere:

As mentioned, full credit needs to be given to Tonga, who were largely helped by their tremendous fans cheering them on all the way.

Playing towards them in the second half, when the side got on a role the atmosphere was on another level, and that spurred them on to what was one of their biggest victories in recent history.

The impact was that influential, they really were a ’14th man’ for their side today, and perhaps without them, Tonga wouldn’t have won that game as emphatically as they did.

If the Tongan supporters can keep that up everywhere they play, then Woolf’s side have a real chance of achieving something special this year.

England relying on other results to keep semi-final hope alive:

The bizarre format of the Rugby League World Cup strikes again as England’s defeat to Tonga means they now cannot go ahead of them should both sides end the group format level on points.

This year, the ‘head-to-head’ between the two sides is the first factor when deciding league positioning as opposed to points difference, which is the second factor.

For England to progress, they now need Tonga defeat both Lebanon and Samoa, meaning they would finish top of the combined Pool B+C table.

England then need to win both of their remaining match, and hope that Samoa lose to either Papua New Guinea or Tonga. That would put both sides level on four competition points. England would then need to better Samoa’s points difference, which already seems unlikely given they lost by 18 today and Samoa beat France by 74 points – a swing of 92.

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