Sports News
Rugby League World Cup: Samoa knock out England's women as the men need a miracle
England's women are out of the Rugby League World Cup in Australia after losing to Samoa, with Freedom Crichton Ropati scoring a hat-trick, BBC Sport reports. For Samoa it was history: RNZ said Fetu Samoa had reached its first Rugby League World Cup semi-final by beating England.
On the same day England's men beat Papua New Guinea 34-12 in Wollongong. But after losing their opening game to Tonga, they look set to miss the semi-finals, the BBC said.
ABC News (Australia) was blunt: after a scratchy win, England need a miracle to stay alive. It added that there are big questions about the sport's future in its birthplace. The BBC asked a similar question in an analysis headlined “Set up to fail?”, saying the inquests had already begun after two different kinds of disappointment for England's men and women.
How each outlet framed it
- RNZ — the Pacific view: a historic first semi-final for Samoa.
- BBC Sport — England's day: the women out, the men's hopes in doubt, and whether the teams were “set up to fail”.
- ABC News (Australia) — the host's view: England need a miracle, and rugby league in England faces hard questions.
What we don't know yet: which results England's men would need elsewhere to sneak into the semi-finals, and who Samoa will face there.