Over the course of the next 18 months, England will have the opportunity to become world champions in both rugby league and rugby union with the respective World Cups drawing ever nearer.
First up, England’s finest rugby league players will be given the chance to set the tone with their World Cup kicking off on the 15 of October 2022 before the rugby union World Cup takes place in the autumn of 2023.
Tellingly, both teams are among the favourites to come away with top honours with England at 6/1 to win the RLWC2021 whilst Eddie Jones’ men are at 11/2 to in the latest rugby union odds to triumph across the Channel in France during late 2023. So, which code is the most likely to achieve this historic feat?
If we were to start with rugby league, we would immediately see that this World Cup has largely been a one-sided affair since the tournament was first played in 1954. On that occasion, Great Britain was the inaugural winner but astonishingly, in the 14 editions since then, Australia has managed to win 11 of them.
As initially alluded to, healthy competition has been relatively scarce as far as rugby league’s greatest showpiece goes. Additionally, Australia is yet again the outright favourites to win this year’s World Cup at odds of just 3/10.
Hope, however, does spring eternal and it will certainly help that the competition is being played in England with fiercely partisan support likely to drive on the national team.
Closer to home, Hull KR’s Ryan Hall will undoubtedly be a key figure in Shaun Wane’s team when the World Cup gets underway in October.
There are just 5️⃣ days until Christmas, so here’s a special try from @England_RL‘s number 5️⃣ at RLWC2013, @Ryan5Hall!
Which number 4️⃣ do you want to see in tomorrow’s #RLWC2021 Christmas Countdown? ? pic.twitter.com/g0osM3YoWi
— Rugby League World Cup 2021 (@RLWC2021) December 20, 2021
Looking ahead to 2023 and the men’s rugby union World Cup in France, the good news is that this is likely to be an extremely hard-fought competition with England more than capable of going all the way.
In some ways, the national team will also feel as if they have unfinished business in France after reaching the final in 2007 only to lose to South Africa by a slender margin of 15-6.
Similarly, the rugby union team will be backed by large travelling support with many fans having the means to make the trip to France for some of the competition or indeed the entire seven weeks, depending on how far England progress.
You could even go so far as to say that this is a World Cup that is set up for England to win and after coming so close in 2007, there will be an added desire to finally lift the Webb Ellis Cup at the Stade de France in 2023.
Another crucial point to consider when weighing up the likelihood of a World Cup win in rugby union is to look back on the 2019 event in Japan when England once again came agonizingly close to walking away as champions only to lose in the final to South Africa.
The footwork from Cheslin Kolbe is next level.
What a try this was from the @Springboks flyer in the Rugby World Cup final#ENGvRSA #RWC2019 #RWCFinal pic.twitter.com/Y2B3d929m8
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) November 4, 2019
That was a crushing blow but when you take a step back and analyze the trajectory of rugby union in England since that day in Yokohama, you come away with the feeling that many significant lessons have been learned.
With this in mind and given Australia’s unprecedented dominance in rugby league, one would have to conclude that England’s best chance of winning a World Cup would be in France in 2023.
