Boom! Joe Coyd carries up the middle of the court and clatters into Jeremy Bourson on halfway, the impact jolting both chairs back a metre or more.

Rob Hawkins gets the ball on the right flank and punts forward before being cleared out by Bourson. England penalty.

Both sides are just easing themselves into this contest. A French kick is charged down by Joe Coyd, giving them a set restart around halfway, but a forward pass on the second tackle gifts possession back to England.

And England are already cheering! Lewis King and Joe Coyd watch the kick-off drift beyond the dead-ball line.

France's Leo Hivernat, wearing blue with red tags on his shoulders, gets this final under way.

England are in white with green tags.

Kyle Amor
Former St Helens prop on BBC iPlayer

This is going to be scintillating wheelchair rugby league. It's four years of work for both teams. Both teams are absolutely stacked.

Two teams. One trophy. A record third title on the line.

Thumbs up if you think England will win in Wollongong. Thumbs down if you're backing France.

Image source, SWPix

The players have made their way out at the Wollongong Entertainment Centre.

Members of the Wales and USA teams are among those in the crowd.

Time for the anthems. La Marseillaise followed by God Save the King.

Image source, SWPix/BBC

Tom Coyd has been England's head coach since 2020. His younger brother Joe has been an England player since 2013. As the two of them acknowledged when speaking to BBC Sport on Wednesday, it makes for an interesting dynamic.

"It's taught me loads about how to be a good brother and loads about how to be a good coach," said Tom,

"I think there's a reason it doesn't happen very often because it can be really difficult. But in our quirky ways, Joe and I find a way to make it function."

Joe added: "When we don't get it right, it's just because we care, and we've probably got that familiarity with each other, where sometimes we're probably a bit shorter with each other.

"We might say things differently to how I might say them to one of the team-mates or another member of staff because I've grown up alongside Tom. But it's great. It's so cool to do it."

Image source, SWPix

Finlay O'Neill, one of the newcomers in the England squad, watched the last World Cup on television.

The 21-year-old used to play running rugby, but after dislocating a knee during a match when he was 16, was diagnosed with shallow kneecaps and hypermobility.

Encouraged by his family, he transferred his skills to wheelchair rugby league with Halifax Panthers - becoming a key part of the team who have just completed back-to-back trebles - winning the Wheelchair Super League leaders' shield, the Grand Final and the Challenge Cup.

Last month, he spoke to BBC Sport's Elizabeth Hudson about how he adjusted from the running game to the wheelchair version.

Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport

Image source, SWPix

There's plenty of experience in the England set-up - five of the 10-strong squad head coach Tom Coyd has taken to Australia were World Cup winners in Manchester four years ago.

They include the talismanic Rob Hawkins, who took his try tally for the tournament to 19 by scoring five in the 86-18 semi-final demolition of Australia.

Hawkins took up the sport in 2014, having been largely bedbound for 18 months because of chronic fatigue syndrome. His introduction to the sport was something of a happy accident - when he went to his first session, he thought he was going along to try wheelchair basketball.

"I saw something on television about wheelchair basketball so we tried looking for our local club, and what we thought was Halifax wheelchair basketball. When we went to a session it turned out it was wheelchair rugby league instead," he said when telling BBC Sport his story this week.

"I thought I'd give it a try and see what I thought. I jumped into a chair for about 20 minutes before my body probably wouldn't let me continue any more and I just kept wanting to go back and get better. It was definitely an interesting turn of events but I don't regret any minute of staying in the sport.

"When I found out that I could play internationally it kind of drove my competitiveness back out that I didn't have since before the condition."

Image source, SWPix

England's Rob Hawkins has won one trophy already this week. On Thursday, he picked up the IRL's wheelchair Golden Boot, awarded to the best player in the world during the calendar year.

It is the third year running that Hawkins has won it - no-one, in any form of rugby league, has ever managed three in a row before.

Indeed, Australia and Queensland great Johnathan Thurston is the only other player ever to have won a Golden Boot three times in their career.

Hawkins saw off competition from England team-mate Joe Coyd, plus France trio Jeremy Bourson, Nicolas Clausells and Dany Denuwelaere, to win the award - with Ireland captain Joe Calcott and Australia's Bayley McKenna and Adam Tannock also nominated.

BBC iPlayer

You can follow all of the action from Wollongong live on BBC iPlayer if you're in the UK.

Click on the 'watch live' button at the top of this page.

Image source, SWPix

France topped Group B, smashing Scotland 114-0 and New Zealand 120-10 before coming through a tricky encounter with hosts Australia. Taking a narrow 30-22 lead into half-time, France dominated the second period to win 69-34.

The two-time champions beat Ireland 82-26 in Tuesday's semi-final, with Damien Dore (five) and Dany Denuwelaere (six) sharing 11 of their 15 tries.

France's squad features three World Cup winners, with Gilles Clausells, Nicolas Clausells and Denuwelaere all involved in 2013 and 2017.

Captain Gilles Clausells, Nicolas' uncle, is a true veteran of the sport. Aged 63, he is playing in his fifth Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup - a record he shares with England's Jack Brown.

After France won the tournament for a second time in 2017, he said that he was going to retire. And he said the same in 2022. But he's still going a month short of his 64th birthday, scoring a try against Ireland on Tuesday. Coming back for 2030, Gilles?

Reigning champions England eased through their opening two group games - beating Wales 98-18 and USA 134-0 - before overcoming Ireland 68-32 to top Group A.

In the semi-finals, they scored 15 tries in an 86-18 demolition of Australia to reach a fifth consecutive final, but the view from the camp is they're yet to find their best.

Hawkins said they were "not playing to our standards" against Wales, rating their performance five out of 10.

That improved to "at least a seven" against the USA, according to Mason Billington, but speaking after Tuesday's win over Australia, Hawkins believes there is more in the tank.

"Wouldn't say we are 10 out of 10 yet, there are still good a good few things to look at," he said. "Today was a six or seven. Hopefully the best is to come on Friday."

England: Joe Coyd, Rob Hawkins, Tristan Norfolk, Lewis King (c), Mason Billington, Nathan Collins, Luis Domingos, Jack Brown, Finlay O'Neill, Chris Haynes.

France: Gilles Clausells (c), Damien Dore, Florian Guttadoro, Jeremy Bourson, Adrien Zittel, Jonathan Hivernat, Dany Denuwelaere, Jorge Gelade Panzo, Leo Hivernat, Nicolas Clausells.

Referee: Rebecca Whiteley

Touch judges: Tim Robinson, Ollie Cruickshank

Senior review official: Stephane Vincent

Image source, SWPix

It's four years ago next Wednesday since England dramatically beat France at Manchester Central to win the last World Cup. Tom Halliwell's try three minutes from the end gave England a 28-24 win.

The two sides have met four times since then, with two wins apiece.

They faced each other twice in the Fassolette-Kielty Trophy in 2023 - France won 43-34 in Leeds, and England were 34-18 victors in Marseille. Then in 2024, they got together again. This time there was a 66-33 England victory in Wigan, and a 32-28 France win in Saint-Lo.

Which is all a roundabout way of saying... it's anyone's match!

England and France have met in the past three World Cup finals and each time, there's been drama, late tries, and incredibly tight scorelines.

• 2013: France 42-40 England
• 2017: France 38-34 England
• 2022: England 28-24 France

Image source, EPA

Earlier in Wollongong, hosts Australia beat Ireland 70-24 to clinch third place.

Australia scored 12 tries to Ireland's five, with hat-tricks for Daniel Anstey and Bayley McKenna, who also made seven conversions for an individual tally of 26 points.

Cian Horgan, Oran Spain, Joseph Calcott, Jack Mangan, and Peter Johnston Jr were the try-scorers for Ireland, who showed fight in the second period after trailing 40-4 at half-time.

Image source, SWPix

Wheelchair rugby league was developed in France as a way of bringing the sport to people with disabilities.

It is fully inclusive, with disabled and non-disabled players able to play on the same team, and follows many of the same conventions as the running game.

Teams of five players have six tackles to score. Tackles on the ball carrier are made by pulling off a tag attached to each player's shirt.

A try scores four points, with two points for penalties and conversions and one point for drop goals. All kicks are taken using a player's fist in a punching motion.

The game is played with an oval ball and lasts for 80 minutes, with a maximum of two non-disabled and three disabled players allowed on the field at any one time.

Image source, Getty Images

This was how it ended four years ago: A late Tom Halliwell try at Manchester Central, in front of a crowd of 5,000 fans, giving England a 28-24 victory over France in the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup final.

Now, 1,456 days later, and 10,582 miles away, they try to do it all over again.

It's England v France in the World Cup final, with history beckoning in Wollongong as both sides compete for a record third title.