How England’s underdog spirit can fuel RL World Cup semi-final hopes

England women face Samoa in their winner-takes-all final group game on Friday (6.45am kick-off); England men face Papua New Guinea in their final Rugby League World Cup pool fixture also on Friday (9.05am kick-off)

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England’s men find themselves in an unusual position: they are favourites to beat Papua New Guinea in their final group game, but underdogs to emerge from the combined Groups B and C and reach the semi-finals

They trail Samoa by 68 points on points difference and cannot finish above Tonga because of their head-to-head record, leaving their hopes of progressing dependent on a convincing win and results elsewhere going their way.

That means they must beat Papua New Guinea by as big a margin as possible, then hope Tonga defeat Samoa by enough to give England a route into the semi-finals.

Source: Sky Sports