The English national side dates back to 1904 when the nation played a combination of Welsh and Scottish players at Wigan. England won 9-3.

Their first World Cup appearance was in 1975 where they finished runners-up and have competed in every World Cup tournament since that date. England also finished as runners-up in 1995 and 2017, the latter an excruciating 6-0 defeat to Australia.

England have competed in five Four Nations tournaments, losing in both the 2009 and 2011 finals whilst exiting at the group stages in the other three tournaments. They have won the European Championship on 14 occasions, the Federation Shield in its only year (2006 – against France, Samoa and Tonga) and the Baskerville Shield – against New Zealand twice (2015 and 2018).

The England women’s side have competed in three World Cups, with their 2008, 2013 and 2017 tournaments all ending at the semi-final stage