Rugby League: England men and women to play France in Warrington double-header

England men and women will play France in mid-season internationals next year.

England is currently hosting the Rugby League World Cup and both teams were knocked out at the semi-final stage over the weekend.

They will return to action with a double-header on 29 April in Warrington, with the women playing at 14:00 BST and the men at 16:30.

The international governing body has pledged to have finalised an end-of-season international programme by then.

It will be the third straight year that England men and women have played a double-header at Warrington mid-season.

France men and women, who failed to qualify from the group stage of this year's World Cup, will host the 2025 tournament.

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"We wanted to ensure that our England teams would return to action in front of a home crowd as soon as possible in 2023," said Mark Foster, the RFL's chief commercial officer.

Discussions are continuing with relevant bodies, including European Rugby League regarding the 2023 international programme for England's wheelchair team, who play France in Friday's World Cup final in Manchester.

"For several months now, we have been working hand in hand with the RFL to systematise international matches between our two nations every year," added Luc Lacoste, president of the French Rugby League Federation.

"This first announcement therefore confirms the desire of our two federations to make a common path until 2025."

International game 'looking for some long-term certainty'

National teams have been frustrated at the lack of a calendar for international fixtures over recent years.

Troy Grant was elected as chairman of International Rugby League, the game's global governing body, in March 2021 and the Australian has vowed to produce a 12-year calendar by the end of 2022, albeit six months later than he had originally planned.

The IRL's first job will be to finalise the qualification process for the 2025 World Cup and there are hopes that Australia will raise the profile for that tournament by touring the UK and France in 2024.

That would be the first full tour for 30 years by the Kangaroos, who face Samoa on Saturday aiming to win the men's title for a third straight tournament.

However, there is currently nothing scheduled for next autumn and protracted talks between the Australian Players Association and the NRL over a collective bargaining agreement have been partly blamed for the delay.

But Grant, the former New South Wales deputy premier, has called an IRL board meeting in December.

"For 20 years people have been asking for a calendar," he said. "We've never been as close.

"France and England play mid-season - that's the next Test - but before that we'll know what's happening at the end of the season as well.

"Some of the mismanagement in our organisation has left a fair bit of legacy. We can't unscramble all those eggs but we can now plan ahead.

"The next two years will be focused on leading into France and the other 10 we'll be looking for some long-term certainty for where we go strategically as well as for what works commercially and logistically."

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