England (28) 50
Tries: Coyd 4, Hawkins 2, Brown 3 Goals: Hawkins, Collins 6
France (22) 38
Tries: Bourson, L Hivernat, Dore, Guttadoro, Denuwelaere 3 Goals: L Hivernat 3, N Clausells 2
England can now paint the final rung on their dressing-room ladder gold.
On Friday in Wollongong, Australia, they became the first nation to lift the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup on three occasions with a peerless display to defeat France 50-38.
And just as they did four years ago, Tom Coyd’s wheelchair side have delivered a triumph to offset the disappointment felt by the men’s and women’s teams.
Rob Hawkins had revealed during the tournament that England had a ladder in their team room, marking each victory by spray painting a rung gold.
With this win, they reached the summit.
This was always going to be close. Since Tom Halliwell’s last-gasp try secured a 28-24 win in Manchester in 2022, England and France had met on four times, with both winning twice.
While across the showpiece matches in 2013, 2017 and 2022 only 10 points had separated the game’s two powerhouse nations – two in the first match, and four in the following two.
In the build-up to this tournament, and during it, England spoke of a desire to win the trophy – rather than defend it. It was a choice of language that spoke of a positive approach. They did what they set out to do on the sport’s biggest stage.
Joe Coyd – who scored four tries, including the opening two of the match – and Jack Brown, who finished with a hat-trick, will grab many of the headlines but there were heroes draped in white all over the Wollongong Entertainment Centre.
A thunderous encounter was punctuated by bruising collisions, heavy chair smashes and running repairs being made to equipment that included the reconstruction of a set of goalposts – as emotions threatened to boil over on more than one occasion.
Those facets, married to some outrageous moments of skill, all contributed to a nerve-shredding contest that delivered a super advertisement for the wheelchair game.
Hawkins, who recently became the first player in any form of rugby league to win three successive Golden Boots – awarded by the IRL to the best player in the world during the calendar year – lived up to his billing.
The Halifax Panthers wing provided some wonderful moments, including two tries, and he superbly evaded two French defenders before laying on a score for Brown as the contest swing England’s way before the break.
Having started in the ascendancy, courtesy of two Coyd tries, England were in danger of losing momentum – an early flashpoint threatening to shift the match towards France as Mason Billington was penalised for shoving Leo Hivernat to the ground.
France capitalised with a try in the corner from Jeremy Bourson. Damien Dore, Hivernat and Florian Guttadoro all crossed before a wonderful England response.
And even when Dany Denuwelaere scored to underscore France’s whirlwind start to the second half, England immediately regained control as Hawkins acrobatically grounded the ball in the right corner to restore their six-point advantage.
Having halted France’s charge towards a third World Cup success of their own, England accelerated away.
Coyd’s fourth try of the match and two in the second-half from the influential Brown took England well clear.
And even Denuwelaere’s bustling third try of the match in the closing stages could deny England a golden and emotional conclusion to their World Cup campaign.