The England team who can still win the Rugby League World Cup

After a dire World Cup campaign for England in both the men's and women's competitions, with historically early exits and soul-searching reviews planned, it is hard to feel optimism at present as an English rugby league fan.

But those looking for hope down under can find it in an England rugby league team who can still enjoy some World Cup success.

Indeed, they are the reigning world champions with a track record of doing well in their competition, and have started in the same vein in Australia.

England began their 2026 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup campaign with a 98-18 thrashing of Wales at Win Entertainment Centre in Wollongong and will aim for a similar success against the USA next up in Group A on Tuesday.

This is the fifth staging of the World Cup for wheelchair rugby league and England have never failed to reach the final, winning twice, in 2008 and four years ago on home ground.

The current England team looking to emulate that success is led by Rob Hawkins, who this year won the Wheels of Steel award for best player in the Wheelchair Super League.

The 25-year-old helped Halifax Panthers win the Grand Final, and is aiming for a double after also being part of England's 2022 triumph.

Hawkins stamped his importance for England on the tournament in the opener against Wales, where he scored 11 of his team's 18 tries.

Among those supporting Hawkins are Luis Domingos, an ex-Portugal basketball international who switched sports as well as countries and now plays for Sheffield Eagles and England.

Jack Brown spent five and a half years living in Australia, coaching wheelchair rugby league while picking up lucrative work as a welder in the Queensland mines. He gave up his full-time job for sport, and after playing at the World Cup will become Wakefield wheelchair head coach next season.

It is a diverse group of talented sportspeople, many of who have had to overcome seemingly impossible challenges to represent their country and have a great shot at becoming world champions.

"If you'd said to me when I was told I couldn't play rugby league again that it's going to be the best thing to ever happen to me, I'd have said 'you're lying'," Finlay O'Neill told BBC Sport last month.

O'Neill dislocated his knee aged 16 and was forced to retire from running rugby league. But he moved to the wheelchair sport, joined Halifax Panthers three years ago, and has never looked back.

"Discovering wheelchair rugby league, which is even better, has been a blessing," he said.

In some ways, wheelchair rugby league is the same as the running game. Teams of five players have six tackles to score. Tackles on the ball carrier are made by pulling off a tag attached to each player's shirt. A try scores four points, with two points for penalties and conversions, which are taken by punching the ball off a tee over the posts.

The game is played with an oval ball and lasts for 80 minutes, with a maximum of two non-disabled and three disabled players allowed on the field at any one time.

But unlike the running game, the balance of power lies not in Australia and the Pacific Islands, but firmly in Europe.

England's main title rivals are France. The old enemies have met in the past three finals, the French winning in 2013 and 2017 before being beaten 28-24 in Manchester four years ago.

Ireland, ranked third in the world, are also genuine contenders and began their World Cup campaign by thrashing the USA 110-10.

But Australia, who are hosting every match in Wollongong, have their strongest ever squad and thumped New Zealand 112-14 in their Group B opener. An Australian sweep of the men's, women's and wheelchair tournaments, all taking place concurrently, for the first time by any nation is not out of the question.

Bayley McKenna is their first non-disabled captain, having picked up the sport in 2006 to support his father, who was paralysed in an accident.

McKenna is far from the only non-disabled person in this tournament – England's Brown is too, he likewise entered the sport alongside a disabled family member, his brother.

Non-disabled players are crucial to the sport's survival, helping teams fill their squads and boost interest. But McKenna was targeted by social media abuse during the last World Cup by those who thought he shouldn't be playing in a wheelchair sport.

"I would have copped about a dozen messages from people all around the world saying, 'you're a fraud, you shouldn't even be in the chair, this is a sport for disabled people'," he told ABC, external.

"These guys were coming at me, like, 'you're lucky you're not out there on the street by yourself'.

"There is such a stigma around able-bodied athletes playing in wheelchairs. It is ridiculous. I'd be lying to you if I said I was going into this World Cup not expecting it."

Australia gave England a couple of good games in a two-match Test series last year, indicating the big two in wheelchair rugby league may not be so exclusive for long.

So don't turn away, England fans. The Rugby League World Cup has plenty left to give.