Set up to fail? Where England's World Cup campaign went wrong

As Mikey Lewis darted over for a late try in a desperate - and almost certainly fruitless - points chase against Papua New Guinea, the obituaries were already being written for England's Men's Rugby League World Cup campaign.

Much earlier on Friday, England's women had lacked the power and nous to overcome Samoa, losing 24-6 in a match that decided who went through to the semi-finals.

England's men actually won their game - 34-12 - but it was nowhere near the margin of victory required. Their elimination will be confirmed on Sunday unless Tonga beat Samoa by more than 46 points.

And so the likelihood is that for the first time in World Cup history, neither England's men nor their women will feature in the last four.

For the men, that ends a run that began with Great Britain at the first tournament in 1954.

The disappointment will only reinforce the idea that English rugby league needs a serious period of introspection - as well as significant investment to keep pace with the game in the southern hemisphere.

But there have been other factors to trouble England at this World Cup, hosted by Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea at short notice after France pulled out for financial reasons.

Even before a ball was kicked, the men were faced with a sense of impending doom - brought on by injuries, shambolic travel arrangements and a bizarre format that had England facing immediate jeopardy with a testing opener against Tonga.

The northern hemisphere game has deep-rooted problems, and seems to be stuck in stasis when compared with the thriving NRL.

England had a record of being a major player at World Cups - having reached two finals and a further four semi-finals at the past six tournaments.

But when last autumn's 3-0 Ashes series defeat by Australia prompted the departure of head coach Shaun Wane, his successor was handed a near-impossible task.

Brian McDermott was appointed in April. Given just six months to prepare, the former Leeds Rhinos head coach had no mid-season international to work on a plan. Based in Australia because of his role as Gold Coast Titans assistant coach, he relied on virtual meetings to connect with his prospective squad and staff.

Four on-field sessions were planned in Australia before the World Cup. But only two were completed in full after his UK-based players were subjected to a 48-hour journey to Perth that left them exhausted - a situation McDermott compared to Planes, Trains and Automobiles, the 1987 road-trip comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy.

It was a shambolic way to prepare for a pivotal opener against Tonga - one that always had the potential to consign the defeated team to an early elimination.

Following that 30-12 loss, McDermott said: "You give me another two or three weeks preparation or another couple of games of preparation leading into the tournament and I'd be really excited."

With the tournament organisers planning travel itineraries for the teams involved, any post-World Cup debrief ought to examine how that situation was allowed to occur.

It would have made more sense for England's opener to be against France - the only other team in the men's tournament made up largely of northern hemisphere-based players.

Wakefield Trinity's historic triumph may have delivered a wonderful sign-off story to the Super League season but it delivered another conundrum around England's squad selection.

Had McDermott known prior to 5 October that none of the Wakefield players in his thinking would be available, could arrangements have been made for his UK-based players to travel to Australia earlier?

In the end, only three of the 14 England-based players in the squad (George Williams, Matty Ashton and Ben Currie) participated in the Super League Grand Final on 3 October.

"If we come together next year as a group, we will be further down the track and we don't need to start from scratch," McDermott added.

"Bear in mind when we landed in Perth on the Friday [9 October], we are starting... like we didn't know each other.

"We were putting things in place about who we are as a group, what it means to us, how we are going to play, how we are going to attack and how we are going to defend. There's been a ton of work gone on."

While much of the pre-tournament noise centred on the omission of Jake Connor and England's long-running halves debate, very little focus was given to a decimated forward pack and other notable absentees.

Prior the first match, McDermott recounted Australia prop Tino Fa'asuamaleaui's admiration for the strength of the English pack during last year's Ashes series.

England's ability to front up had also previously been talked up by Kangaroos boss Kevin Walters.

Yet McDermott had few of those same players at his disposal.

Matty Lees' season-ending injury in May was not only a blow for St Helens but also robbed England of a key enforcer, one who had previously shown he could stand up to the physicality of a powerhouse Tonga front row.

With second-rower Mike McMeeken and prop Caleb Hamlin-Uele unavailable, Morgan Smithies withdrawing from the squad injured and a calf complaint taking Morgan Knowles out of the equation for the encounter against Tonga, England were left short in that area.

That is before you even get to options such as Sydney Roosters' Billy Smith, Wigan's Jake Wardle and Leeds Rhinos duo Ash Handley and Mikolaj Oledzki, all absent through injury.

And when England had to chase the scoreboard after their defeat by Tonga - while hoping results elsewhere went in their favour - it left them in trouble.

They failed to get the numbers on the board they needed against Papua New Guinea. McDermott acknowledged that it left him and his players waiting for the inevitable.

"It feels like we lost the game," he said. "We won and, in any circumstances I would be really proud but I think something remarkable is going to have to happen now for us to go through.

"We've made massive strides together in such a short period of time, in difficult circumstances where the narrative of the last two weeks is that you've got to win by 70 and 60. You don't just need to win, you need to win by massive margins."

Whenever the Women's Rugby League World Cup has featured semi-finals previously, England or Great Britain have always been there. When it has not, they have always finished in the top four.

But this time, they approached the tournament with a different focus, as head coach Staurt Barrow opted for youth over experience.

His squad contained 11 players aged 23 or under, and was largely comprised of players who have full-time occupations away from rugby league.

And that told as England were humbled 78-0 by world champions Australia last Saturday, and found wanting by a Samoa side dominated by NRL Women's Premiership talent. While Australia's domestic league pays its players, money is much tighter in England's Women's Super League.

"Women's Super League has progressed to a certain level and we are bringing young players through so that creeps into the national team," said Barrow.

"It's good and refreshing - but at the same rate we are progressing, it's probably accelerating quicker on this side of the world if I am really honest.

"The investment into the NRLW is not only making the Jillaroos better but it's making all the Pacific nations better as well.

"I think nearly every player for Samoa has played NRLW at some stage and that competition is improving at a rate of knots. We'll have to go back and look at what we can do in our competition.

"We definitely need to do something because the acceleration of the game over here is phenomenal at the moment.

"Back home, we need to have more investment into the women's and girls game. It can't just be a token gesture at some clubs - and I'm not saying it is, but we need to put money into it."

Barrow's other main problem relates to geography and an international calendar that leaves them ill-prepared to face the leading southern hemisphere nations.

Aside from a record 90-4 defeat by Australia in Las Vegas, England's women have been limited to six international fixtures since the previous World Cup, all against France and Wales - in which they have scored 348 points, while conceding four.

"We lost to the better side on the day. I am not going to deny that," Barrow added.

"It was a good game and a good game for England to be in because we have a problem at the moment where we play France or Wales. And no disrespect to those nations but we win them [games] - and we play the Jillaroos and lose heavily.

"This was a nice game to be in where it was competitive all the way. The more of those we can get will definitely help us as a nation."