McDermott likens England's World Cup travel to Steve Martin comedy

England head coach Brian McDermott said on Thursday that England's travel schedule to their Perth base for the Rugby League World Cup had been like the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and he described the trip as leaving the squad exhausted ahead of their tournament opener. McDermott, appointed in April, saw his first match in charge end in a 30-12 defeat by Tonga last Saturday.

England were left with little preparation time because of a lengthy journey that UK-based players took to reach Perth, a trip that took almost 48 hours and curtailed their training window before the World Cup opener. 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. The squad had not played since losing the third Ashes Test to Australia at Headingley in November 2025 under Shaun Wane, and no warm-up match was scheduled before the Tonga game.

The travel route involved a bus journey from the north of England to London before flying to Singapore rather than flying directly to Perth, and instead of a five-hour flight from Singapore to Perth England flew for almost eight hours to Sydney and then took another plane back to Western Australia. "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."

McDermott's new-look side managed just two full training sessions before facing Tonga, a team the article describes as powerful and ranked two places below England in fifth in the IRL world rankings. "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," McDermott said, highlighting the limited time the players had to gel.

The 30-12 loss has left England teetering on the brink of elimination because of this year's unusual format, in which Pools B and C are combined into one six-team league from which only the top two will make the semi-finals. The format contrasts with Pool A, where four teams — Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the Cook Islands — play a round-robin for two semi-final places. England, drawn in Pool B, are playing the three Pool C teams: Tonga, France and Papua New Guinea. Samoa's 78-4 win over France has left England's points difference 92 worse than Ben Gardiner's team in the combined Pool B and C table, and New Zealand have lost to Australia in the opening match.

McDermott warned of the narrow margin for error created by the format, saying: "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 named an unchanged 19-man squad for the game against France but confirmed that Warrington's Matty Ashton will start in place of Wigan's Zach Eckersley on the wing. England have also suffered an injury blow, with Strange ruled out of the World Cup.

McDermott declined to criticise the hosts or organisers for the tournament format, pointing to France's withdrawal and last-minute involvement from Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. "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."

England must beat France on Saturday, 24 October at 07:35 BST and Papua New Guinea on Friday, 30 October at 09:05 GMT and also rely on other results to go their way if they are to reach the semi-finals.