Europe has been treated to a massive weekend of international rugby league with four Test matches played across the continent as the season heats up.

Spain and Serbia are officially out of the race for the 2017 World Cup, leaving four countries to battle it out for three spots.

England get off to great start

England have defeated their neighbours from across the English Channel in a dour affair in Avignon.

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Nearly 15,000 fans turned out in the rain as the Poms showed off a new-look side led by James Graham.

The game didn’t end well for the acting skipper who was concussed following a spear tackle from Eloi Pelissier, the Catalans star sent to the sin bin.

Graham will now have to prove his fitness ahead of England’s Four Nations opener against world No.1 New Zealand in Huddersfield.

Their credentials have taken a boost with Wayne Bennett’s side playing to their best ability.

Pelissier grabbed an early try for the tricolours before Ryan Hall struck back, grabbing his 27th try for his country.

Daryl Clark came off the interchange to bounce over soon after, Thomas Burgess then busting his way through the line in a show of strength.



England solidified themselves with Hall to record a brace and put the visitors in front 22-6.

It took a while for Bennett’s team to settle in after the break, not going over until the 68th minute when Kevin Brown found the chalk.

Jermaine McGillvary then scored his first try for England before veteran playmaker Gareth Widdop went over as the clock winded down.

In other preparations for the Four Nations, Scotland faced off against a Cumbrian representative team in Barrow, cruising home for a 48-16 win ahead of their date with Australia in Hull.

Jamaica flex their muscles with strong tour

The Reggae Warriors have finished their two-game European tour undefeated following fixtures against World Cup hopefuls Wales and Ireland.

Jamaica kicked off their tour in Bray last weekend recording a massive 68-16 over Ireland.

The Reggae Warriors’ dominance continued on Friday when they visited Wakefield to face off against Wales.

The Dragons got off to a strong start with Rhodri Lloyd going over in the corner before Alex Jones-Bishop fought back for Jamaica to put the visitors in front.



Courtney Davies scored a try seven minutes later before Jones-Bishop grabbed another meat pie moments before the break.

With just over ten minutes remaining, Lloyd White crashed over the line following the sin binning of Corey Hanson.

Jamaica didn’t give up, drawing level through Jones-Bishop’s third try of the evening.

Jy-Mel Coleman had an opportunity to put the Reggae Warriors in front with just two minutes remaining however, he was unable to convert coming away with a 16-16 draw.

Jamaica’s strong tour shows that rugby league in the Americas has come a long way, especially considering they continue to finish third best to the United States and Canada.

Serbia thumped by Azzurri in World Cup qualifier

Serbia have endured a heavy loss in Belgrade with 1,037 fans watching on.

The professionalism of the Italians proved too much for the White Eagles.

Richard Lepori scored after just four minutes before going on to grab a further two tries in the following eight minutes as the Azzurri got off to a dream start.



Fullback Mason Cerruto continued the rut scoring not long after before Shannon Wakeman barged over, Cerruto following up with his second.

Townsville Blackhawks star Brenden Santi scored after the break with Lepori grabbing his fourth meat pie just a minute later before Cerruto brought up a hattrick.

Terry Campese capped off a brilliant game with a try in the 58th minute, Chris Calegari then finding the chalk before the home side ran in three consolation tries, two of which were scored by Josh Marjanović.

In the end, Italy marched home to a 62-14 setting up a thriller next weekend in Monza for automatic qualification when they square off with Wales.

Wolfhounds bounce back to record impressive victory

Ireland have trumped Spain 46-6 in Valencia, quashing any hopes of a World Cup debut for Spain.

The Wolfhounds kicked off the game in style, Oliver Roberts finding his way to the line after just two minutes with Casey Dunne following just moments later.

Stuart Littler and James Hasson grabbed a try each before the break to put the visitors in front 22-0.

Dunne scored an early try in the second half before Haydn Peacock went over.



The next couple of minutes were massive for Spain with halfback Miguel Blanco-Charters scoring to put the home side on the board however, the euphoria didn’t last long with Daniel Garcia sent from the field for punching.

It resulted in Ireland running in a number of late tries with George King, Stuart Littler and Scott Grix all scoring to secure a 46-6 victory for the Wolfhounds.

The green and white now head home to Bray where they will host Russia at the Carlisle Grounds. The winner will secure automatic qualification into the 2017 Rugby League World Cup while the loser will be forced to compete for the fourteenth and final spot.