England Knights

England Knights is the feeder team for the England national rugby league team. The Knights play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an international environment and to compete for a place in the England first team.

England Knights

Team information
Nickname	The Knights
Governing body	Rugby Football League
Region	Europe
Head coach	Paul Anderson
Captain	TBA
Most caps	Jodie Broughton (5)
Top try-scorer	Jodie Broughton (6)
Top point-scorer	Luke Gale (28)
Team results
First international
Knights 38–18  France (15 October 2011)
Biggest win
Knights 62–4  Ireland (16 June 2012)

History

1990s and 2000s: Background

The idea of a second England team originated in the 1990s as "Emerging England" to give young players a chance to play internationally before being called up to the senior side. Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s Emerging England played against the senior sides of developing nations. In another incarnation as "England A" (not to be confused with the Amateur Four Nations team), the team took on the Australian national rugby league team in the second game of the 2003 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France. Australia defeated England A 26–22 in front of 6,817 fans.

2011–13: Formation

England Knights were officially formed in 2011, eight years after England A played Australia. A squad of players under 25 were chosen play against France and where they came out 38–18 victors. The following year they competed in and won the 2012 European Championship and defeated Samoa in a 2013 test match.

2014–17: Hiatus

The England Knights team was not utilised between 2014 and 2017.

2018: Return

In 2018 it was announced that the Knights would go on a two series tour of Papua New Guinea.^[1][2]

Competitive Records

Overview

Opponent	Matches	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %
Total	8	7	0	1	88%
Cumbria	1	1	0	0	100%
France	1	1	0	0	100%
Ireland	2	2	0	0	100%
Jamaica	1	1	0	0	100%
Papua New Guinea	2	1	0	1	50%
Samoa	1	1	0	0	100%
Scotland	1	1	0	0	100%

List

As England A

Date	Home team	Score	Away team	Competition	Location	Attendance	Ref.
30 October 2002	England A	12–34	New Zealand	Friendly			[3]
28 October 2003	England A	22–26	Australia	Friendly	Griffin Park, London	6,817	[4]

As England Knights

Date	Home team	Score	Away team	Competition	Location	Attendance	Ref.
15 October 2011	England Knights	38–18	France	Friendly		2,071
22 October 2011	Cumbria	12–26	England Knights	Friendly		1,163	[5]
16 June 2012	England Knights	62–4	Ireland	Friendly		11,083
20 October 2012	Ireland	4–56	England Knights	2012 European Championship	Deramore Park, Belfast		[6]
28 October 2012	Scotland	24–62	England Knights		Meggetland Stadium, Edinburgh
19 October 2013	England Knights	52–16	Samoa	Friendly			[7]
27 October 2018	Papua New Guinea	12–16	England Knights	2018 Knights tour	Lae, Papua New Guinea
3 November 2018	Papua New Guinea	32–22	England Knights		Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea		[8]
20 October 2019	England Knights	38–6	Jamaica	Friendly	Headingley Stadium, Leeds	7,113	[9]
15 October 2021	England Knights	56–4	Jamaica	Friendly	Wheldon Road, Castleford	2,250	[10][11]
1 October 2022	France B	6–18	England Knights	Friendly	Bordeaux		[12]
9 October 2022	Scotland	4–28	England Knights	Friendly	Edinburgh		[13]

Honours

• European Championship: 2012

Women's rugby

See also: England women's national rugby league team

On 26 July 2022, a women's knights team was launched. The team is managed by Leeds Rhinos head coach Lois Forsell.^[14] The team called up a performance squad to training camps in 2023^[15] and 2024.^[16]

List of results

Date	Home team	Score	Away team	Competition	Location	Attendance	Ref.
27 October 2022	England Knights	14–26	Cook Islands	Friendly	Weetwood Sports Park, Leeds		[17]