England crush France to remain in hunt for World Cup semi-final spot

England kept alive their faint hopes of reaching the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals with an 82-0 trouncing of France.

Herbie Farnworth and Dom Young scored hat-tricks as England overcame a nervy start in Perth to boost their scoring difference and remain in the hunt for a last-four spot heading into the final round of pool matches.

England entered the game staring at a 150-point deficit following Samoa’s landslide win in Papua New Guinea earlier on Saturday. They took a sizeable chunk out of that with a 14-try victory but require another big win when they face the Kumuls in Wollongong on Friday, and will also need a favour from Tonga against Samoa on November 1.

Mikey Lewis came off the bench to score twice with Matty Ashton, George Williams, Victor Radley, Jez Litten, Jack Welsby and AJ Brimson also crossing for England while Hugo Savala kicked 26 points.

Brimson was the architect for many of those tries, the full-back shredding France in an awesome attacking display, with Junior Nsemba and Kai Pearce-Paul producing a number of eye-catching carries and offloads in contact.

England were met with stiff resistance during the opening quarter as some superb France defending kept them scoreless, but the dam burst on 23 minutes and those early efforts took its toll as they 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, Farnworth grabbing three of those to help England into a 36-0 half-time lead.

The rout continued in the second half and France’s persistence with going short from kick-offs led to a hat-trick try for Young on 62 minutes, while Brimson bagged the try his performance deserved with three minutes remaining.

What’s next?

England need another big win when they face Papua New Guinea in their final pool match in Wollongong on Friday (9.05am). Attention will then turn to Tonga vs Samoa on Sunday (9.05am), where they require a favour from the former.