Following the reveal of the draw for the 2026 Rugby League World Cup, England legend James Graham has given his verdict on his nation’s chances next year.
The former St Helens and NRL prop featured for his country over 50 times, including at three World Cups. He was a starting player in the 2017 Final, where England were beaten 6-0 by Australia.
Since his retirement, Graham has become a regular member of the Australian media, and hosts his own podcast – The Bye Round. There he has shared his thoughts on how he thinks England will fare when they head Down Under in 2026.
Currently led by Shaun Wane, the English will head into the tournament on the back of a 3-0 Ashes series defeat to the Kangaroos, that ended with an aggregate score of 70-18.
The RFL have confirmed this week that there is no current space in the Super League calendar to host a mid-season international game to act as preparation for the World Cup, despite Papua New Guinea boss, Jason Demetriou, advocating for a fixture between his Kumuls side and the English.
The groups for next year’s tournament were announced earlier this week, with England places in Pool B alongside Samoa and Lebanon. However, due to the format of the groups, they will face all three teams in Pool C instead, meaning they take on Tonga, PNG and France.
Graham believes that, despite his country not having to take on neither Australia or New Zealand in the group stages, he would have preferred to play one of them so that England could get a feel for the six-week tournament early on.
He said: “From an England perspective, one of the headlines was ‘England avoid Australia and New Zealand’… I think we’d want to play those.
“I don’t necessarily look at that as a good thing. I think England would have wanted to test themselves against Australia and New Zealand.
“The more times we can play Australia and New Zealand, especially away from home, is going to be beneficial for the national team.”
England will kick off their tournament against the Tongans in Perth, the team they beat in the 2017 World Cup semi-finals. The former forward has described as a must-win if they are to progress further into the competition.
“It’s almost a knock-out game,” said Graham. “England, basically, if they don’t beat Tonga, are going to rely on Tonga beating [Samoa] and then relying on some sort of points difference.
“It’s incredibly tough for England to face Tonga first out… It’s good that they’re playing Tonga, but it’s almost knock-out football straight away. England would have relished that opportunity to be in that Group A, and face Australia without the consequence of the result being a knock-out and just get a taste of it. But, that’s reflected in the rankings and that’s what you get for not being in the top two.
Only one team from Pools B and C will progress, and will join the top two in Pool A in the semi-finals. England have to better the results of Samoa if they want to advance, which makes both winning, and scoring points – something they struggled with this year – that much more important.
🤝 Our Men’s 2026 Rugby League World Group Stage fixtures have been confirmed…
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— England Rugby League (@England_RL) November 23, 2025
Eric T Cat
November 27, 2025 at 7:55 am
Tonga, they’ll lose that one, beat France comfortably, then in a pressure game they must win, luckily for them not in PNG, they might win, but not guaranteed, and not by enough to progress. In pressure matches Shaun Wane’s record as England manager is dire.
I think I’d be saying I was injured come the end of the season rather than traipse all the way to Australia, damage your saleability and reputation, and come home covered in…well, it won’t be glory.