{"id":799029,"date":"2026-10-11T10:02:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T10:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/799029\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T10:02:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T10:02:17","slug":"how-england-could-line-up-in-rugby-league-world-cup-opener-against-tonga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/799029\/","title":{"rendered":"How England could line-up in Rugby League World Cup opener against Tonga"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Brian McDermott will oversee his first game as England head coach next week when his side faces Tonga in their first group game of the Rugby League World Cup.<\/p>\n

McDermott is the most successful boss in Super League history, but the international game is a different level, something that he knows well given he now works in the NRL.<\/p>\n

With the gap between the two competitions ever-increasing, the ex-Leeds and Toronto coach has needed to think outside the box, both in terms of game plan and squad selection.<\/p>\n

Ten NRL players have been named, with four of those available due to heritage rulings. There has been plenty of controversy over whether that is the right call, but McDermott\u2019s job is to win England the World Cup \u2013 and he has selected the best players he thinks he needs to fulfil that goal.<\/p>\n

England get their campaign underway on October 17 in Perth, where they take on Kristian Woolf\u2019s Tonga side \u2013 a squad stacked with NRL stars. Here is how we think McDermott will line up his side for that game.<\/p>\n

Wakefield Trinity are 2026 Super League Champions! \u2013 Click here to watch the Serious About Rugby League Grand Final Review Show<\/a><\/p>\n

Predicted England Rugby League World Cup squad to face Tonga<\/p>\n

Full-back: AJ Brimson<\/p>\n

Most Read on Serious About Rugby League<\/p>\n

Brian McDermott has ruled out the possibility of Herbie Farnworth playing at full-back in the tournament, which leaves Brimson and Jack Welsby to take the number one shirt.<\/p>\n

Whilst Brimson has spent the 2026 season at centre, he was the better of the two in last year\u2019s Ashes series, and is someone that McDermott trusts given they both work at the Gold Coast Titans.<\/p>\n

Wingers: Dom Young and Matty Ashton<\/p>\n

Young has been an England regular for a number of years now, and is another established NRL name that McDermott will be relying on to try and match the NRL-quality of their opponents.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Ashton wouldn\u2019t have been selected if Tom Johnstone wasn\u2019t having surgery, but regardless, the Warrington man is still a quality winger, and with pace to burn, he will be key to England\u2019s points-scoring.<\/p>\n

Centres: Herbie Farnworth and Hugo Savala<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s best centre slots into his natural position, and huge things are expected of him at this year\u2019s competition. Partnering him on the opposite side is a debutant in Savala, but one that comes into the England camp a Grand Final winner.<\/p>\n

Halves: George Williams and Harry Smith<\/p>\n

The England captain had a brilliant start to the season, but wasn\u2019t at his best after returning from a neck injury, particularly in the finals series. That being said, he is an experienced international and someone who also has NRL experience.<\/p>\n

Partnering him is Wigan\u2019s Smith, who has a lethal kicking game and game management skills that will be imperative, especially in the games against the higher-ranked nations.<\/p>\n

Props: Max King and Morgan Knowles<\/p>\n

Another debutant, Huddersfield-born King represented New South Wales in 2025, so whilst this would be his international debut, he has experience of representative rugby.<\/p>\n

Joining him in the front row is Knowles, who can play huge minutes and is as much mobile as he is powerful. England don\u2019t need the big boppers to defeat the likes of Australia \u2013 they need athletic middles who are versatile and can move the ball around.<\/p>\n

Hooker: Brad O\u2019Neill<\/p>\n

The Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel has one international cap to his name, with that coming in 2024 against France. Whoever starts at hooker for McDermott will depend entirely on the game plan, with O\u2019Neill a more defensive hooker and Hull KR\u2019s Jez Litten the attacking option.<\/p>\n

Back Rowers: Junior Nsemba and Kai Pearce-Paul<\/p>\n

Two rangy edge players that can fend, offload and carry hard, Nsemba has earned his way back into the England fold following a drop-off towards the end of last season whilst Pearce-Paul continues to show why he is one of the best back-rowers in the NRL.<\/p>\n

Loose forward: Victor Radley<\/p>\n

\u2018The inflictor\u2019 comes into the World Cup campaign fresh off a Grand Final win, and has never let anyone down in an England jersey. Like Knowles, he\u2019s aggressive, mobile and can play big minutes, something England need if they are to match their opponents physically.<\/p>\n

Interchanges: Jez Litten, Morgan Smithies, Luke Thompson, Sam Walters, Ben Talty, Mikey Lewis<\/p>\n

In a change to traditional Super League rulings, the RLWC will see six-man benches implemented \u2013 however only four players on the interchange bench can be used.<\/p>\n

McDermott has spoken about how valuable versatile players are, so that is why the likes of Smithies and Walters are named among the subs, whilst Litten\u2019s inclusion has already been discussed.<\/p>\n

Thompson and Talty will provide pack relief, whilst Mikey Lewis is included having been tipped by his head coach to be the \u201cpoint of difference\u201d.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brian McDermott will oversee his first game as England head coach next week when his side faces Tonga…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-799029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}