New opponents, exciting England, TV treats, Young guns and female refs: positives from RLWC2021

But the tournament, which will move up another gear when the wheelchair competition begins on Thursday, is breaking new ground and providing good entertainment for committed fans.

Here’s five positives to come out of the World Cup so far.

1: Greece and Brazil have played England in Test matches. Greece and Brazil: 2,000 and 5,500 miles from the M62. There’s no downside to that. Both newbies were hammered, but so what? The delight from their players, staff and fans when they scored their try was massively uplifting.

2: England look good. The women were a little rusty at times in their opener against Brazil, but can work on a few things against Canada on Saturday before the big group showdown with PNG. England’s men have been outstanding so far, with none of the traumas, crises and hiccups usually suffered at World Cups. The huge win over Samoa got the tournament off to a flyer, they came through a few difficult moments against France in good style and did a professional job in the Greece game. They may not be favourites, but England really could go on and win it.

3: Television coverage has been excellent. Broadcasting all 61 matches, the BBC have a vested interest to talk the sport up, but it’s good to see them treating rugby league, in all three tournaments, with respect and just highlights the value of international competition.

4: Dom Young. Rugby league needs personalities and the Dewsbury-born winger has emerged as one of the tournament’s breakout stars. Playing in the NRL, for Newcastle Knights, he was largely unknown to UK-based fans beforehand, but eight tries in three matches has raised his profile massively. He has all the attributes - he looks the part, speaks well and is an outstanding finisher - to become one of the few rugby league players who capture the imagination of the wider sports-watching public.

5: Female match officials. Women have made history by refereeing men’s games at this tournament, which is a good look for the sport.