England Suffer Humiliating Defeat Prior to Rugby League World Cup

England are busy preparing to host the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, unfortunately for the host nation, their preparations have ended with an embarrassing defeat.

It was widely expected that England would breeze through its friendly match with Italy and then move on to the tournament opener against Australia feeling positive and confident. However, the team was left shocked after Italy won 15-14.

Steve McNamara, the England coach, said, “I just think our mentality was really wrong for this game.
We were probably guilty of looking towards the Australia game and we took our eye off this game. I don’t think we were fully focused.”

When McNamara was appointed England coach it was with the aim of building a team capable of winning the World Cup. While there have been steady signs of progress, the real test is still to come. The last time England faced Australia, in the 2011 Four Nations final, they were destroyed 30 – 8.

Player Sam Tomkins said, “Australia will think they’ll have it easy won’t they? If that’s how they’re thinking that’s fine. They’re the best in the world and we’re under no illusions how tough this week will be. We’ve just put a bit more pressure on ourselves.”