Mikey Lewis Scores Twice as England Crush France 82-0
Mikey Lewis came off the bench to score two tries as England beat France 82-0 at the Rugby League World Cup, which is being played in Australia. He arrived for the final 20 minutes and made the most of them.
The result came after a long road back into the side. Lewis was left out of England's opening match, a 30-12 defeat to Tonga. He has since been picked by coach Brian McDermott, who named him as one of three half-backs. Half-backs are the scrum-half and stand-off, the players who link the forwards to the backs. He is competing with Harry Smith and captain George Williams for those places.
BBC Sport reported that McDermott chose Lewis ahead of Jake Connor, the 2025 Man of Steel, Super League's top individual award. Speaking from the England team hotel in Wollongong, Lewis was direct about his place in the squad. “I have earned my spot,” he said.
His record explains why he has supporters and critics. In the 2026 Super League season, Lewis scored 17 tries and provided 14 assists in 20 matches. An assist is a pass that leads directly to a try. He also picked up four yellow cards, the most of any player in the division. A yellow card in Super League sends a player to the sin bin for a set period. In July, he was banned for four games for a late tackle and a headbutt in a defeat to Warrington Wolves.
Lewis first pulled on the England shirt in October 2023, against Tonga at St Helens. He scored a try, set one up and was named man of the match in a 22-18 win.
England still have work to do. To reach the semi-finals, they must beat Papua New Guinea. They also need Tonga to beat Samoa, and they must overturn a 68-point deficit to Samoa. Each of those results is outside England's control, so the route is far from simple.
