Tag: live

“It was really special”: Courtney Winfield-Hill scored three tries as England secured a huge 72-4 victory over Brazil in their Rugby League World Cup opener; Next, they face Canada in a double-header with the men’s team at Wigan

England half-back Courtney Winfield-Hill believes her side can build from a “really special” opening victory against Brazil, as they look to go all the way at the Rugby League World Cup.

In a player of the match performance, Winfield-Hill scored a hat-trick in England’s dominant win over Brazil and admitted it was a moment to remember as they walked out to the roaring crowd at Headingley as stands packed with local school children cheered for the home nation.

“It was really special and I think that is something that England rugby league fans do really well,” said Winfield-Hill.

“Especially here at Headingley, to hear that South Stand drum giving us a really big lift through moments in that game, that was incredibly special.

“It was a big occasion today with the number of people in the crowd and the volume going off.

“It all adds to it and now we have experienced, perhaps we can settle in a little more and just get minds on the game.”

Despite a resounding win, Winfield-Hill believes England have a lot of areas to improve if they are going to secure their goal of winning the World Cup on home soil.

“Patchy is the word I would use to describe it,” she added.

“We were really good in certain patches then we probably got a bit excited at times and just lost touch with a couple of basics.

“I am sure Craig (Richards) and the coaching staff will get us back on the straight and narrow over the next couple of days.

“Georgia (Roche) and I have only been together at Leeds for a year and it has been clunky at times, there is no denying that for us.

“But it was also really good today to have some time with Zoe Harris and just connecting a different partnership because we know that throughout this tournament, everybody is going to play a part and there is going to be different combinations at times.”

On Saturday, England will have another special moment as they play in front of a packed-out crowd in a double-header with the men’s team at Wigan, with the Princess of Wales Kate Middleton attending the occasion.

“We just need to learn to gain momentum through basics. I think we lost it at points there today and we know that comes through discipline,” Winfield-Hill said.

“So, solidifying a few basics will be on the agenda and I am really looking forward to the double-header with the men, who are building some terrific momentum themselves.

“That will be another really good moment to be a part of.”

Back row Kevin Proctor was sacked by NRL club Gold Coast Titans in July for posting a video of himself on social media vaping in the CommBank Stadium toilets during a game in which he was not playing; the former New Zealand international has signed a 12-month contract with Wakefield

Former New Zealand Test forward Kevin Proctor has joined Wakefield Trinity for the 2023 Betfred Super League season.

The 33-year-old back row was considering retiring from the game after being sacked by NRL club Gold Coast Titans in July for posting a video of himself on social media vaping in the CommBank Stadium toilets during a game in which he was not playing.

But the ex-Melbourne Storm player, who won 22 caps for the Kiwis up to 2019, has signed a 12-month deal with Trinity and is looking forward to sampling Super League.

“I just can’t wait to get over and get going,” Proctor said. “The challenge is something I’m really looking forward to.

“I’m hoping my experience will complement the squad and the young fellas that are a part of it.

“I’m really hungry to succeed and can’t wait for the journey to start.”

Wakefield’s new head coach Mark Applegarth expects Proctor’s experience and ability to provie invaluable as Trinity aim to avoid another season of being involved in the relegation battle.

“I’m really happy to have Kevin on board for 2023,” Applegarth said.

“He’s a player that’s done it all in Australia and somebody I’m looking forward to working with. He will definitely drive the standards of the group up in training and games as he’s a real competitor.

“After chatting with Kevin on numerous occasions, it’s clear to see he’s coming over with plenty of ambition left to compete at the highest level. I can’t wait for him to get started.”

From his junior days with Croydon Hurricanes to starring on the world stage for England, Kai Pearce-Paul has made impressive progress in his rugby league career; the 21-year-old has drawn comparisons from some quarters with one of the sport’s greats as well

With his deft offloading ability, strong ball carrying and tough tackling, it is perhaps no surprise Kai Pearce-Paul has drawn comparisons to one of the greats from some quarters.

The 21-year-old Wigan Warriors player has been tagged as ‘The English Sonny Bill Williams’, with the New Zealand cross-code icon being one of the players Pearce-Paul admired as a youngster.

It is a comparison he takes in his stride, although Pearce-Paul is more concerned with being his own man rather than measuring himself against Williams or anyone else.

“I hear that a bit from my friends as well because I like to offload and it’s something he did,” Pearce-Paul said. “He was the master of that, really, and I’ve had a few comparisons in my time.

“He’s a great guy, an unreal player, and he’s done it all, really. He was someone I looked up to as a kid.

“I don’t like to compare myself, and if people want to say it then it’s okay and they can do that. But I’m my own player and he’s a great player as well, and I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”

Pearce-Paul is now a fully-fledged international player too after making his England Test debut in the 94-4 win over Greece on Saturday which secured top spot in Group A of the Rugby League World Cup, capping a memorable day with a try and two assists.

It is the latest step on a journey which began for the Bromley-born second row or centre as a junior player with community club Croydon Hurricanes and continued with him joining the academy set-up at London Broncos.

Impressive displays in the U19s competition for the Broncos and for Lancashire in the Academy Origin series led to Wigan bringing him in on an initial four-year contract in 2019, and Pearce-Paul has become an established first-team regular since making his debut in September 2020.

His performances this year earned him a place in Shaun Wane’s 24-man England squad for the World Cup and after sitting out the opening win over Samoa and being 18th man for the match against France, he finally got the chance to fulfil a long-held ambition against the Greeks at Bramall Lane.

“It’s been a long journey, and this is something you can only dream of, playing as a young boy for Croydon Hurricanes and down in London,” Pearce-Paul said.

“I was a young kid thinking one day I wanted to play for my country and now it’s something which has become a reality.

“It was something which took a while to hit me but running out on that pitch and having the crowd roaring, it all became so real and that was a great feeling.”

Pearce-Paul is not the only player from outside rugby league’s northern heartland in England’s squad, with Basingstoke-born former Broncos back row Mike McMeeken another one who has blazed a trail too.

But although he was in the minority among his friends in playing the 13-man code growing up, his progress has attracted plenty of attention from them.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Kai Pearce-Paul put the finishing touch on an outstanding Wigan Warriors play to score this try in the Betfred Super League.

“As a kid, I was one of the only ones of my mates who played rugby league and they all really respected how good the game was,” Pearce-Paul said.

“Obviously it’s not as big down in London, but I’ve had a lot of messages from old friends and rugby union friends saying congratulations and watching.

“The support is there, which is nice, and it’s good having old friends, teachers and family watching me play.”

Pearce-Paul will now hope he has done enough to retain his place in Wane’s matchday 17 when England head to his second home of Wigan for the quarter-finals on Saturday, November 5, where Papua New Guinea are their most likely opponents.

Kai Pearce-Paul capped a memorable England debut against Greece with a try

He already knew Wane from the 58-year-old’s role as the Warriors’ leadership and management director and is enjoying his time being coached by the man who guided Wigan to three Super League Grand Final triumphs as part of the England squad.

“It’s been really good,” Pearce-Paul said. “He’s an honest man and very straightforward – he tells you how it is.

“The boys respect that about him and that brings the respect of wanting to play for him. That’s a way of paying him back, playing well and doing what he coaches us.

“It’s what you expect with Waney. Having him around Wigan, I always knew the kind of guy he was and he’s a great guy, and it’s the same at England.

“It translates onto the pitch in how we’re playing in these last few games, which is really good.”

England head coach Craig Richards has named his 19-player squad as side kick-off the Women’s World Cup against debutants Brazil as part of a double-header at Headingley on Tuesday (2.30pm)

Emily Rudge will lead England into the fourth Rugby League World Cup of her career when they open the women’s tournament against Brazil.

Head coach Craig Richards’ squad for the opening match of the tournament at Headingley on Tuesday sees all four previous winners of the Woman of Steel award included as well.

Leeds Rhinos’ half-back pairing Georgia Roche and Courtney Winfield-Hill, St Helens loose forward Jodie Cunningham and this year’s winner Tara-Jane Stanley are all in line to feature.

Rudge is the most experienced player in the squad and is set to win her 37th England cap when she leads the team out to face the World Cup debutants in the Group A opener.

Other notable selections include Leeds back Caitlin Beevers, who at 21 has already won two Women’s Super League titles and a Challenge Cup, England’s all-time leading try-scorer Amy Hardcastle of St Helens and Wigan Warriors’ Vicky Molyneux.

The latter is the sole member of the present squad who was part of England Women’s very first international outing against France in 2007.

The match against Brazil at 2.30pm is part of a double-header at Headingley to kick off the women’s tournament and is followed by Papua New Guinea taking on Canada at 5pm.

England 19-player squad vs Brazil

Emily Rudge (captain), Tara Stanley, Caitlin Beevers, Fran Goldthorp, Amy Hardcastle, Leah Burke, Georgia Roche, Courtney Winfield-Hill, Grace Field, Tara Jones, Hollie Dodd, Jodie Cunningham, Vicky Molyneux, Vicky Whitfield, Shona Hoyle, Olivia Wood, Keara Bennett, Zoe Harris, Zoe Hornby.

France being awarded the hosting rights for the 2025 World Cup is a sign of how rugby league has progressed there in recent years; the current squad will reach the quarter-finals of this year’s tournament if they beat Samoa in Warrington on Sunday

Regardless of what happens in the final Group A match against Samoa on Sunday, French rugby league appears to be riding a wave of optimism as the nation prepares to host the next World Cup in three years’ time.

Of course, students of rugby league history will know there has been many a false dawn across the Channel when it comes to the 13-man code in the past. National team head coach and former player Laurent Frayssinous is probably just as aware of that as anyone else too.

Nevertheless, even in the wake of last Saturday’s 42-18 defeat to England, the 45-year-old chose to focus on the positives and is in no doubt France are showing signs of once again becoming a team capable of competing with the other big names on the international stage.

“We played England 12 months ago and I can see from last year to this year, there is a massive, massive improvement in how we play the game, the way we attack and the way we defend,” Frayssinous, whose side will reach the quarter-finals of this year’s World Cup with victory over Samoa, said.

“We keep on building, we keep on learning, and we learnt a few things against England. We go and play Samoa with confidence because I think we deserve some credit for the last two games.

“We started to build something so we could lay the platform. The players know our philosophy and what we expect them to do on the field.”

The decision to award France the hosting rights for the next global gathering, having hosted the inaugural edition in 1954 and again in 1972, is another sign of how the sport has somewhat come in from the margins in the country in recent years.

Catalans’ success has helped boost French rugby league

A large part of that has come on the back of the success of Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League, becoming the first overseas team to win the Challenge Cup in 2018 and then winning the League Leaders’ Shield and reaching the Grand Final for the first time in 2021.

The relegation of Toulouse Olympique back to the second tier of the British professional league system after just one year in Super League has dented those ambitions slightly, but that has not altered their long-term aim to establish themselves at the top level as well.

France’s domestic Elite One championship has benefitted from an influx of high-profile foreign players in recent seasons, too, with the latest big move seeing former NRL star Corey Norman link up with ex-Catalans man and former Australia international James Maloney at Lezignan after leaving Toulouse.

On the international front, Sydney Roosters’ NRL Grand Final-winning head coach Trent Robinson has linked up with the national team as coaching director, benefitting both Frayssinous and the squad with his experience along with growing his own links with the country after playing there for Toulouse and later coaching Catalans.

It would be massive for us [to reach the quarter-finals]. We have been working so hard the last few years, so I think we deserve this, but we need to work even harder.

France vice-captain Alrix Da Costa

Last Saturday’s match showed Les Chanticleers still have some catching up to do after their run without a win against England extended to 21 matches, yet hooker Alrix Da Costa – one of the Catalans contingent in the squad – believes they are making progress.

“International games are always different,” vice-captain Da Costa, one of those who plies his trade at club level for Catalans in Super League, said. “It’s massive and it’s some good experiences for all the players.

“You have some NRL players [to play against] so the level is higher and it’s good for us. We take everything and learn from that.”

France were finalists at the first World Cup 68 years ago when one of the greatest national teams the country has ever produced beat Australia and New Zealand, only to be edged out 16-12 by Great Britain in the final following a 13-13 draw between the two in the group stage.

France faced Great Britain in the 1954 World Cup final

They finished second in 1968, too, but in the modern era their best performances have been quarter-final appearances in 2000 and 2013 – something they could equal if they defeat Samoa in Warrington this weekend.

That, believes Da Costa, would be a just reward for the efforts France’s squad have put in and give them something to build on ahead of hosting the World Cup in 2025.

“It would be massive for us,” Da Costa said. “We have been working so hard the last few years, so I think we deserve this, but we need to work even harder.

“Against England, we needed to be a bit smarter and if we keep going like this then we’ve got a chance.”