England hammer France to keep Rugby League World Cup hopes alive

England 82 France 0 England racked up 14 tries in their thrashing of France on Saturday morning with a result that kept their Rugby League World Cup hopes alive. More to follow England racked up 14 tries in their thrashing of France on Saturday morning with a result that kept their Rugby League World Cup hopes alive. More to follow That massive win has propelled England’s points difference to +64. With Tonga uncatchable, England still have Samoa firmly in their sights. They’re 68 points off Samoa’s total and need Tonga to beat them, while they themselves secure a mammoth victory over Papua New Guinea in order to reach the semi-finals. On the sixth tackle, Lewis chips a ball over the top of France’s defence and Smith latches on it to tee up Brimson, who makes a short dash to score. That caps off a superb performance. Brimson deserves that try after assisting so many. Savala makes his 13th conversion. This is getting ridiculous now. Young catches a short French kick and has too much pace for his tired opponents, sprinting from inside his own half to score. After Farnworth, Young becomes the second England player to bag a hat-trick. Savala adds the extras. England’s record victory against France was 84-4 in 2015. This is what McDermott’s men should aim for in this last quarter as they try to chase down Samoa’s points difference. Exhiliarating stuff, although the French are out on their feet. England are unstoppable and racking up an extraordinary score as they’re chasing the clock. Brimson leads the charge and pierces France’s weak defence, before passing to Welsby, who doesn’t quite have the pace so he unselfishly passes to Lewis for the try. Savala expertly bags the conversion with a swerving kick. From around the 20-metre line, Williams executes an absolutely terrific kick, which pierces France’s defence with Morgue out of position, allowing Young to score the try. Williams’ vision and technique in that passage of play was truly sensational. Savala fails to add a conversion for the first time. However, they keep the scoreboard ticking over in the second half. The England fans sound incredibly buoyant in Perth and with good reason after their team remarkably ran in six tries in the last 17 minutes of the first half. Sorry to apply a touch of perspective, but they will need plenty more of the same if they are even going to have a sniff of the semis. As it stands, Samoa have a points difference of plus 132 after beating Papua New Guinea 64-4 this morning. England have a points difference of, erm, plus 18. Their only chance is to carry on go rampanting in this second half and then stick to the same free-scoring script against PNG on Friday. And then hope Tonga beat Samoa by enough points the next day. It remains an unlikely scenario, but there is now a chance if Brian McDemott’s men can keep these afterburners blazing. England had to wait 23 minutes before opening the scoring, but once Young bagged the first try, the floodgates well and truly opened. England have scored six converted tries, with Farnworth getting a first-half hat-trick. England needed a huge victory to increase their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals and they’ve certainly delivered. It’s raining tries for England. Savala teases the France into pressuring him, before he cleverly passes to Young, who has Farnworth busting a gut to make himself open for the pass. The left-centre duly receives it and dashes over the goal line to score. Savala bags his sixth conversion of the first half and England are crushing France. The captain gets in on the act. France’s defence has completely crumbled over the last 20 minutes. This time, Pearce-Paul passes to Smith, who opens up France and is spoilt for choice at who to pass to. He chooses Williams, who scores a simple try. You guessed it, Savala adds the conversion. Three tries in four minutes. Smith comes alive and breaks through France’s beleaguered defence. He has options steaming up either side of him. Smith coolly picks out Farnworth, who runs unchallenged through the posts to score. Savala bags his third conversion and England now lead by 18. Incredible scenes. Once again, the build-up play is phenomenal as Brimson gains incredible territory by bursting through France’s rocked defence with some incredible footwork. Brimson has Ashton sprinting alongside him in support. Ashton has too much pace and eventually gets his try after having a previous score ruled out. Savala kicks through the posts and England are flowing now. At last. A hugely frustrating opening quarter for England that was threatening to become humbling, with the French warming to their task. Young and Ashton made the most of their opportunities, which is exactly what Brian McDermott’s team struggled to do against Tonga last week. A much-needed try arrives for England. It’s brilliant play from Williams. He darts through France’s backline to take England within metres of the line, before offloading an exquisite one-handed pass out wide to Young, who makes has a simple to score. Savala adds the extras and England have a six-point lead. England apply serious pressure on France through Farnworth’s brilliant carry just metres from the try line. On the last play, Brimson’s fast pass for Ashton is pivotally intercepted by Jussaume to prevent a try. It’s a forward pass from England and France continue to hold firm. This is difficult for England. They need a try bonanza to give themselves a glimmer of hope of qualification to the semi-finals, but they cannot get ahead of the task. The first ambition is to win the game and it might take some time to break down the French. Brian McDermott’s men must strike a mixture of patience and urgency. Some quick exchanges sees Brimson tee up Ashton on the left, who dashes on the outside of France’s defence with his blistering pace to reach the goal line. However, he drops the ball as he puts it down. So close for England, but the early signs are very promising. France are clinging on. Group A of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the Cook Islands has a standard format, with each nation playing each other, with the top two progressing to the last four. Groups B and C have been combined into one pool, with the former containing England, Lebanon and Samoa, and the latter having France, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. Each team will play the three other nations in the opposing group, with just the top two sides out of the six advancing to the semi-finals. England: AJ Brimson, Dom Young, Hugo Savala, Herbie Farnworth, Matty Ashton, George Williams, Harry Smith, Max King, Brad O’Neill, Luke Thompson, Junior Nsemba, Kai Pearce-Paul, Victor Radley. Interchange: Jez Litten, Ben Currie, Ethan Havard, Sam Walters, Jack Welsby, Mikey Lewis. France: Arthur Mourgue, Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, Latrell Siegwalt, Roméo Tropis, Benjamin Laguerre, Thomas Lacans, Théo Fages, Romain Navarrete, Amir Bourouh, Julian Bousquet, Arthur Romano, Mathieu Jussaume, Benjamin Garcia. Interchange: César Rougé, Lambert Belmas, Mathieu Cozza, Louis Grossemy. Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of England’s second Rugby League World Cup outing as they lock horns with France in Perth. Following a 30-12 loss to Tonga in their opening match, England are left with an uphill battle if they want to reach the semi-finals, requiring large victories over France today and Papua New Guinea next week. England’s task has been made more daunting by Tonga’s 36-0 victory over Lebanon on Friday evening. Given that teams level on points at the end of the group stage will be separated by their head-to-head records, England can only finish behind Tonga. England’s possible progression to the last four is out of their hands. Brian McDermott’s side need Tonga to do them a favour and defeat Samoa, while they do their job and win the rest of their group fixtures. Despite the pressure on England to claw back the eye-watering points difference, hooker Brad O’Neill has underlined that his side are remaining calm and will stick to their game plan. “We have discussed what is required but I feel like the mentality can’t be any different to what we had against Tonga,” he said. “We can’t go into this game thinking about the points difference. We’ve got to go into this game hard-nosed like we did against Tonga, and hopefully if we do our jobs well enough we’re going to get the win.” McDermott has also spoken about the uniquely fine margins needed to qualify for the semi-finals, adding: “The jeopardy in losing one game is so harsh, it’s almost like we don’t get another chance to straighten things out. There’s still a slim chance that we get through, and that’s something we’re focusing on, and we’re really determined. It’s just harsh that we have to take a standing eight count in the first round.” England’s team news sees Matty Ashton replace Zach Eckersley in the starting line-up, while Mikey Lewis is on the bench. For France, Thomas Lacans starts at five-eighth and Romeo Tropis begins at centre, with Cesar Rouge and Leo Darrelatour on the bench. Julian Bousquet also starts in the front row, replacing Lambert Belmas. Kick-off for this Pool B clash is at 07:35 BST, with team news following now.