England kept alive their faint hopes of reaching the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals with an 82-0 trouncing of France in Perth, scoring 14 tries in a landslide win.
Herbie Farnworth and Dom Young scored hat-tricks as England overcame a nervy start to boost their scoring difference and remain in the hunt for a last-four spot heading into the final round of pool matches. Mikey Lewis came off the bench to score twice.
England entered the game facing a 150-point deficit after Samoa‘s landslide win over Papua New Guinea earlier on Saturday. They cut into that gap with their 14-try victory, but they need another big win when they face the Kumuls in Wollongong on Friday. They will also need a favour from Tonga, who play Samoa on November 1.
Matty Ashton, George Williams, Victor Radley, Jez Litten, Jack Welsby and AJ Brimson also crossed for England, while Hugo Savala kicked 26 points.
Early resistance gives way to a flood of tries
England met stiff resistance in the opening quarter, as some superb French defending kept them scoreless. The dam burst on 23 minutes, however, and England’s early efforts took their toll on France, who faded badly towards the end of the first half.
Brian McDermott‘s side scored six tries in the final 17 minutes of the first period, with Farnworth grabbing three of them to put England into a 36-0 half-time lead.
The rout continued after the break. France’s persistence with going short from kick-offs led to Young’s hat-trick try on 62 minutes. Brimson then bagged the try his performance deserved with three minutes remaining.
Brimson shines at full-back
Brimson was deservedly named man of the match after a brilliant display that included a try, three assists and five line breaks. He shredded the French defence in an awesome attacking performance, while Junior Nsemba and Kai Pearce-Paul produced a number of eye-catching carries and offloads in contact.
Speaking to Premier Sports, Brimson said: “It’s my first win for England. Disappointing last week [against Tonga]. We had a tough assignment today, we needed a good performance to give ourselves a chance. It’s not always easy having that mindset.”
He added: “The first 20 was a grind but credit to our spine and halves, keeping us calm and we knew we’d get them in the end.”
McDermott hails ‘enormous’ effort
McDermott praised his squad’s response given the circumstances. “What we’ve done today, given the context, is just enormous. We had to win big but, as any coach will tell you, nobody thinks like that. You think, ‘we’ve got to win’.”
He said the team had held honest conversations during the week about what a big win would require, and had avoided getting distracted by chasing points. “Everything was measured, everything was inside the game model, everything was what we planned to do – well, most of it at least.”
McDermott also looked ahead to the final pool game. “Whatever the results are next week, we want to finish strong against PNG as well, and if that means we’re going home next Sunday night, that will be a big disappointment to us. But I’m not sure what more we could have done.”
What’s next?
England face Papua New Guinea in their final pool match in Wollongong on Friday (9.05am). Attention will then turn to Tonga against Samoa on Sunday (9.05am), where England require a favour from Tonga.