Tonga pip Samoa in World Cup classic as England knocked out of tournament

England’s elimination from the Rugby League World Cup was confirmed after Tonga beat Samoa 20-18 in the final group match.

Brian McDermott’s side needed Tonga to win by an unlikely 46 points to reach the last four for the seventh successive tournament.

Instead they are on the plane home from Australasia despite winning two of their three matches.

The 30-12 defeat by Tonga in the opening match proved costly, with an 82-0 win over France leaving England with 68 points to make up on Samoa.

Addin Fonua-Blake snatched victory for Tonga (Getty)

They failed to make significant enough inroads in the 32-10 win over Papua New Guinea.

English hopes briefly flickered when Tonga led 8-0, Robert Toia scoring the opening try after a near 50-metre sprint.

With Isaiya Katoa converting and then kicking a penalty, England just needed Tonga to score another 39 unanswered points to stay in the tournament.

However, Brian To’o’s try hauled Samoa back to 8-4 down at half-time.

It was a raucous atmosphere in Sydney as the Pacific Island nations clashed (Getty)

Jojo Fifita put Tonga 14-4 ahead before To’o, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Ronald Volkman edged Samoa into a two-point lead, only for Addin Fonua-Blake to win it for Tonga.

Tonga will play New Zealand in the last four, while Samoa will face Australia in a repeat of the 2022 final.

France, meanwhile, ended their men’s World Cup campaign with a dramatic 24-20 golden-point defeat by Lebanon.

The French needed a last-gasp two-point drop goal from Arthur Mourgue to make the score 20-20 and take the match to extra-time.

But after Morgue had a drop goal disallowed for a block, it was his error that gifted the ball to Lebanon’s Abbas Miski for the winning try.

In the women’s competition, Australia ran in 21 tries as they hammered Wales 124-6. Wing Jaime Chapman scored six tries as the reigning world champions won with the highest score recorded in an international women’s match.