England's travel schedule like Steve Martin comedy - McDermott

Brian McDermott talks to England players

Image source, SWPixImage caption,

Brian McDermott was named England head coach in April - with last Saturday's defeat by Tonga his first match in charge

BySteve SutcliffeBBC Sport journalist

Published11 minutes ago

England were left exhausted and with little preparation time for the start of their Rugby League World Cup campaign because of a travel schedule straight out of the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles, head coach Brian McDermott says.

England's 30-12 defeat by Tonga last Saturday has left them teetering on the brink of elimination because of the unusual format of this year's tournament.

However, the UK-based players in McDermott's squad were hardly helped by a lengthy trip to their Perth base, taking almost 48 hours.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, McDermott likened it to the hapless journey undertaken by Steve Martin and John Candy in their 1987 road-trip comedy.

"We were going around the world 15 times to arrive in Perth. We were [exhausted] for about three days afterwards," said McDermott.

"I think we were on the same aeroplane as John Candy and Steve Martin, for all you who remember Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

"I had to call Monday's training session short because you could tell there was a load of residue from travel still left in them."

BBC Sport understands that the International Rugby League - the game's global governing body and the tournament organiser - planned England's travel itinerary for the World Cup. The BBC has contacted the IRL for comment.

Rugby League World Cup: England v France

Saturday, 24 October: 07:35 BST

HBF Park, Perth

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The convoluted route featured players taking a bus journey from the north of England to London before flying to Singapore instead of directly to Perth.

Instead of taking a five-hour flight from Singapore to Perth, England then flew for almost eight hours to Sydney, before catching another plane to go back to Western Australia.

It meant the McDermott's new-look side completed just two full training sessions before taking on a powerful Tonga side, two places below them in fifth in the IRL world rankings.

And despite showing promise, there were also elements to England's play that understandably fell short - given there was no time to schedule a warm-up match for a team who have not played since losing the third Ashes Test to Australia at Headingley in November 2025 under Shaun Wane, McDermott's predecessor.

"I think we did really well, and if you give me another two or three weeks preparation or another couple of games of preparation leading into the tournament, I'd be really excited," added McDermott, who took charge in April following Wane's departure.

England's 'slim chance' to advance down to format

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Figure caption,

Tonga stun England in World Cup opener

The result means, in order to reach the semi-finals, England will have to defeat France on Saturday (07:35 BST) and Papua New Guinea on Friday, 30 October (09:05 GMT) and also see other results go in their favour.

Their task has been made all the more difficult by Samoa's thumping 78-4 win over France, which means England's points difference is 92 worse than that of Ben Gardiner's team in a combined Pool B and C table.

The format features an unbalanced group stage, which has not helped England's prospects.

Pool A has four teams - Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the Cook Islands - fighting for two semi-final places in a round-robin format.

But Pools B and C are combined into one six-team league, from which only the top two will make the semi-finals. England, drawn in Pool B, are playing the three Pool C teams - Tonga, France and Papua New Guinea.

It means that while England are in deep trouble after one defeat, New Zealand still have a strong chance of making the last four despite losing to favourites Australia in a high-quality opening match.

"The jeopardy of losing one game is so harsh, it's almost like we don't get another chance to straighten things out," added McDermott.

"There's still a slim chance that we get through, and that's something we're focusing on and we're really determined.

"New Zealand have lost their first game as well, but they're going to get another go at it and the likelihood is they'll qualify, so their destiny is not lying in other people's hands. That's not the position we find ourselves in."

McDermott has named an unchanged 19-man squad for the game against France but has confirmed that Warrington's Matty Ashton will start in place of Wigan's Zach Eckersley on the wing.

The England head coach made clear he did not want to criticise either the hosts or the organisers for the tournament's unusual format.

Instead, he pointed out that it resulted from Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea having to step in at short notice after France pulled out of hosting the tournament for financial reasons.

He added: "I'm trying to be diplomatic here. If France had held the World Cup, there would have been more teams in it. It would have had the usual pools for the teams.

"You've got to give Australia a lot of credit for taking it on the last minute.

"But because they [France] haven't, I completely understand that it has to be reduced to a 10-team competition, which is not the easiest thing to do and then we end up in situations like this."