England v France: how to watch Rugby League World Cup 2022 fixture on TV in UK - date, venue, kick-off, squads

England’s World Cup campaign kicked off with fireworks as they thrashed Samoa 60-16 . England had previously been named as the underdogs by many bookmakers prior to the match but Shaun Wane’s squad proved how this was vehemently not the case with an unbelievable 54 point gap.

The game did not start with the pomp and circumstance one might expect from a World Cup opener with the PA system in Newcastle cutting out midway through the pre-match welcome ceremony but England soon found their rhythm with Jack Welsby opening the scoring. He was soon followed by two tries apiece for Dom Young and Eliott Whitehead and by half-time, the tournament hosts had a lead of 18-6. It then only took nine minutes in the second half before they completely ran away with the game.

As Wane’s squad now prepare to face France, the England coach is expected to rotate his squad with the seven players not in the matchday squad on the weekend to now come in and face France. France also enjoyed success on the opening weekend as they beat World Cup debutants Greece 34-12.

Here is all you need to know ahead of England’s second World Cup fixture against France...

When is England v France at RLWC2022?

The two teams will face off on Saturday 22 October with kick-off scheduled for 5pm BST. They will meet at the University of Bolton Stadium which is also home to Bolton Wanderers Football Club. It has a capacity for 28,723 but it’s record attendance is 28,353.

Having previously been named the Reebok Stadium and Macron Stadium, it earned its current name in 2018 . The University of Bolton Stadium has hosted four Rugby League Test matches since 1998 with the last match taking place in November 2001.

How to watch England v France at RLWC2022

All of the matches from the Rugby League World Cup will be available to watch on BBC. England’s upcoming fixture can be watched on BBC Two with coverage to begin at 4.30pm ahead of the 5pm kick-off while fans can also stream the match on BBC iPlayer or follow along on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.

England v France head-to-head

This is set to be the 52nd meeting between England and France since their very first fixture took place in 1934. In those 51 matches, England have won 41 times, France have been victorious on seven occasions and the two sides have drawn in three of the matches.

The last time the two sides met was in Perpignan last year in a friendly and despite a French comeback in the final few minutes of the match, England won 30-10. Paddypower have England at 1/1000 to win while France are 25/1 to win and a draw is currently 100/1.

Squad news

Shaun Wane is expected to hand out four Test debuts in the upcoming match against France as he is likely to rotate the squad. While the details have not yet been confirmed, here are the full squads of England and France at the World Cup.

England: Sam Tomkins, Andy Ackers, Joe Batchelor, John Bateman, Tom Burgess, Mike Cooper, Herbie Farnworth, Ryan Hall, Chris Hill, Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees, Tommy Makinson, Michael McIlorum, Mike McMeeken, Mikolaj Oledzki, Kai Pearce-Paul, Victor Radley, Victor Radley, Marc Sneyd, Luke Thompson, Kallum Watkins, Jack Welsby, Elliott Whitehead, George Williams, Dom Young

France: Lambert Belmas, Alrix Da Costa, Jordan Dezaria, Morgan Escare, Benjamin Garcia, Tony Gigot, Mickael Goudemand, Benjamin Jullien, Mathieu Laguerre, Samisoni Langi, Corentin Le Cam, Paul Marcon, Anthony Marion, Arthur Mourgue, Eloi Pelissier, Maxime Peuch, Arthur Romano, Cesar Rouge, Justing Sangare, Paul Seguier, Gadwin Springer, Maxime Stefani, Louis Jouffret, Fouad Yaha