Rugby League World Cup: we can win it says England coach

The hosts will face either Australia or New Zealand in a semi-final at York on Monday.

Richards’ side saw off Brazil 72-4 and Canada 54-4 before sealing top spot in group A with a 42-4 defeat of Papua New Guinea in front of a 5,000 crowd at Headingley on Wednesday.

Australia meet New Zealand at York on Thursday in a decider for top spot in group B, with England set to face the losers in the last four.

The Jillaroos are hot favourites to retain the trophy at Old Trafford on November 19, but Richards believes England can upset the odds

“I feel so,” Richards vowed. “Is it going to be easy? No. Are we going to have to be at our brilliant best? Yes, 100 per cent.

“But I feel as though I have pulled together 24 people who have shown they can win in different ways.

“They can tough it out, they can be rotated, which is important - we can rotate the squad and the quality doesn’t stop. I feel we can, the girls believe we can, but we know what a big task it is.”

England went behind early on against PNG, before hitting back with eight unanswered tries.

After the big wins in their opening two games, Richards was pleased to see his side keep their cool when put under pressure by the big-hitting Orchids.

He said: “It was what we needed, there’s a few questions have been answered. You don’t want to be scored against as a coach, but one of the questions was what do we do when we go behind?

“We found the answer, when you go behind you battle hard and fight your way back into the game.

“I don’t think we could go into a semi-final against either Australia or New Zealand without something tough, without a physical battle and some adversity.

“The girls stuck together, showed plenty of grit and stayed connected. I feel we’ve won a game in a different way to the first two, so I am really, really pleased.”