Rugby League World Cup England 42 18 France Shaun Wane s side close to knockouts BBC Sport
Rugby League World Cup: England 42-18 France - Shaun Wane's side close to knockouts - BBC Sport Homepage
Newbie to RL, don’t understand the rules but really enjoyed that game, both teams never showing any dissent or arguing with the ref, no feigning injury unlike the PL footballers,
Hope that fella is ok who went off with head injury634B
Play like that against the Aussies and they will be hammered won't they?126S
Took the wind out of France's sails that.73M
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By Shamoon HafezBBC Sport at University of Bolton Stadium Last updated on 3 hours ago3 hours ago.From the section Rugby Leaguecomments218Rugby League World Cup: England v FranceEngland (18) 42Tries: Hall 2, Thompson, Whitehead, Radley, Young 2 Goals: Sneyd 7France (12) 18Tries: Mourgue, Pelissier, Romano Goals: Mourgue 3 England all but secured their place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup with a comfortable 42-18 victory over France in Bolton. Shaun Wane's side have two wins from two games after thrashing Samoa in their opening match and have a points difference of +78 at the top of Group A. They will aim to complete a flawless passage to the knockout stages when they face debutants Greece in their final group game in Sheffield next Saturday. Winger Ryan Hall extended his try-scoring record for England with two in the opening 11 minutes, finishing off swift team moves into the corner, and Luke Thompson added a third try. After their poor start, France hit back. Arthur Mourgue reacted quickest to a ricochet from his own grubber kick and Eloi Pelissier burrowed over from close range for an 18-12 half-time deficit. But Elliott Whitehead and Victor Radley crossed early in the second half and winger Dominic Young added two more, including a superb length-of-the-field try. Arthur Romano scored a consolation for France late on.'Superstar in the making' - Young lights up World Cup'We will improve' says coach WaneReaction after England beat FranceWorld Cup tables; Fixtures, results & BBC coverageEngland showcase second half surge
The two sides were meeting for the 32nd time but England pressed home their dominance by claiming their 21st consecutive victory against France, last losing this fixture in February 1981. The French, who host the next World Cup in 2025, defeated Greece in their first game and were only a converted try behind at the break but England - as expected - ran away with the contest in the second period. It started perfectly with Hall scoring twice in the opening 11 minutes, converting through passes from Marc Sneyd, winning his first Test cap, and Herbie Farnworth for similar tries in the left-hand corner. It extended Hall's record try-scoring tally to 37 for England and the Hull KR man is now the third joint highest scoring player of all time on the international stage, alongside Australian great Darren Lockyer. Forward Thompson then went in unchallenged between the sticks after a line break from the brilliant Radley created the opportunity. France responded by punishing England's sloppiness with Catalans Dragons stand-off Mourgue and Toulouse hooker Pelissier both touching down to stun the home support into silence. But any fears of a huge upset were allayed early in the second period when Whitehead converted his second try of the tournament from John Bateman's offload and Radley claimed his first England try by latching on to Andy Ackers' kick through. Newcastle Knights winger Young took his tally to four in the competition, his second of the game a sensational burst from range following an interception deep inside his own half. Only an extraordinary set of circumstances will now stop England from reaching the last eight. Samoa will be aiming for their first victory against Greece on Sunday, before completing the group against France next Sunday. England: Tomkins; Young, Watkins, Farnworth, Hall; Sneyd, Williams; Burgess, McIlorum, Hill, Whitehead, Bateman, Radley. Interchanges: Welsby, Oledzki, Thompson, Ackers. France: Escare; Romano, Jullien, Langi, Laguerre; Mourgue, Gigot; Dezaria, Da Costa, Belmas, Goudemand, Seguier, Garcia. Interchanges: Pelissier, Sangare, Springer, Le Cam. Referee: Gerard Sutton (Australia) commentsView Comments218Comments
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To use comments you will need to have JavaScript enabled. 218 commentsJComment posted by jus4jks today at 19 03jus4jks
19:03Well done EnglandNewbie to RL, don’t understand the rules but really enjoyed that game, both teams never showing any dissent or arguing with the ref, no feigning injury unlike the PL footballers,
Hope that fella is ok who went off with head injury634B
Reply posted by BB 76 today at 20 49BB 76
20:49to jus4jks"Well done England Newbie to RL, don’t understand the rules but really enjoyed that game, both teams never showing any dissent or arguing with the ref, no feigning injury unlike the PL footballers, Hope that fella is ok who went off with head injury"BB 76 replied: Great stuff Jus4jks.....after the WC. Pick a Super League side and enjoy a whole season of it!....131More replies (1)downFComment posted by Footyfan today at 19 32Footyfan
19:32I'm loving watching England with my lad. There us a purity about the game, which football has long since lost.7013BReply posted by Benny Fitz-Sponger today at 19 36Benny Fitz-Sponger
19:36to Footyfan"I'm loving watching England with my lad. There us a purity about the game, which football has long since lost."Benny Fitz-Sponger replied: Well said 345More replies (7)downMComment posted by musicman today at 19 42musicman
19:42People saying it should be reduced numbers in the competition. I totally disagree - its a world cup. Rugby league for the world, including emerging and aspiring nations.The amazing stories about Jamaica, Greece and other part timers playing out of their skin should not go untold.All other sport is no different in that there's a best and there are those wanting to be able to compete with the best.448TReply posted by The Greatest Game Of All today at 20 07The Greatest Game Of All
20:07to musicman"People saying it should be reduced numbers in the competition. I totally disagree - its a world cup. Rugby league for the world, including emerging and aspiring nations.The amazing stories about Jamaica, Greece and other part timers playing out of their skin should not go untold.All other sport is no different in that there's a best and there are those wanting to be able to compete with the best."The Greatest Game Of All replied: How do any teams get better if they don’t get to compete with the teams that are better than them?291More replies (3)downRComment posted by Rudolf Schenker today at 19 42Rudolf Schenker
19:42Spirited performance by France, England just had too much class. Cmon England keep it going we need something to cheer about.332RReply posted by Rodriguez Bonanza today at 19 57Rodriguez Bonanza
19:57to Rudolf Schenker"Spirited performance by France, England just had too much class. Cmon England keep it going we need something to cheer about."Rodriguez Bonanza replied: Nice comment pal. Keep up the good work England.120FComment posted by Fettle-it today at 19 12Fettle-it
19:12Good game, Eng lost concentration and France punished us. We cannot switch off against better teams. Good effort from France who are getting better 212VComment posted by View from Belgium today at 21 33View from Belgium
21:33I am not very familiar with rugby league, but I would like to say that it was very entertaining. I especially like that fact that hardly any of the game is spent in the scrum. Thank you for the World Cup :-)171MReply posted by musicman today at 21 48musicman
21:48to View from Belgium"I am not very familiar with rugby league, but I would like to say that it was very entertaining. I especially like that fact that hardly any of the game is spent in the scrum. Thank you for the World Cup :-)"musicman replied: Love this comment. Welcome to the sport and entertainment. This is exactly what the world cup is about. Keep watching and enjoy!51More replies (7)downEComment posted by elbowseye today at 19 02elbowseye
19:02Good game, well done France for a decent performance, Dom Young is a headline player. Wane probably ruled a few of the players who came in out of his team for bog games ahead.151CComment posted by Chris today at 19 49Chris
19:49Shaun Wane was a proud grandad.130KComment posted by KR today at 19 19KR
19:19Go England!141WComment posted by wildbeast today at 20 03wildbeast
20:03stuart barnes -why?? He was the guy who said he would eat his hat if jason robinson ever played for england ru.121AComment posted by Al Bagu Brath today at 20 39Al Bagu Brath
20:39Wow! The last time we English hosted a rugby union World Cup we were dumped out at the group stage but it seems like we actually have a chance to go deep into this rugby league World Cup we are hosting.144BReply posted by Byron Bay today at 21 09Byron Bay
21:09to Al Bagu Brath"Wow! The last time we English hosted a rugby union World Cup we were dumped out at the group stage but it seems like we actually have a chance to go deep into this rugby league World Cup we are hosting."Byron Bay replied: No hys on today’s rugby union which suggests it is now a thing of the past. Great to see the Poms having a bit of success in the early rounds. The question is will they be able to ruffle the feathers of the big boys in later rounds? Oz are coasting along at present, can’t see them being beaten by anyone.36More replies (1)down1Comment posted by 123 today at 19 39123
19:39A decent win, but a bit of a mixed bag performance-wise. Not particularly impressed by Sneyd, Ackers or Oledzki, Hall really stuck his hand up though and I'd start him at centre if Watkins is injured. Williams has also been a revelation after such a poor season at Warrington, looks back to his absolute best. Clearly last week's team are the prime starters, and based on today Wane is spot-on.102FReply posted by footfall22 today at 19 43footfall22
19:43to 123"A decent win, but a bit of a mixed bag performance-wise. Not particularly impressed by Sneyd, Ackers or Oledzki, Hall really stuck his hand up though and I'd start him at centre if Watkins is injured. Williams has also been a revelation after such a poor season at Warrington, looks back to his absolute best. Clearly last week's team are the prime starters, and based on today Wane is spot-on."footfall22 replied: Try assists by Sneyd and Ackers.33More replies (5)downSComment posted by Smudgerhino today at 19 51Smudgerhino
19:51RL fan but the scorelines in this World Cup just show only the aussies, kiwis and england arecteams of any credibility. No competition anywhere and to be fair its becoming a bit boring.1710MReply posted by musicman today at 19 56musicman
19:56to Smudgerhino"RL fan but the scorelines in this World Cup just show only the aussies, kiwis and england arecteams of any credibility. No competition anywhere and to be fair its becoming a bit boring."musicman replied: not saying they will but if England beat NZ or Australia by the same scoreline would you be saying the same?66More replies (5)downWComment posted by Waint today at 19 49Waint
19:49We will not know how good England are until they face NZ or Australia. There are no games to test them until then.81FReply posted by footfall22 today at 19 57footfall22
19:57to Waint"We will not know how good England are until they face NZ or Australia. There are no games to test them until then."footfall22 replied: Personally I think we will come unstuck and especially against the Kangeroos. Sadly I can’t honestly see England getting within 20 points of the Aussies.49CComment posted by Councillor for SD today at 20 52Councillor for SD
20:523 team tournament, training session today137GComment posted by greg today at 20 50greg
20:50I so enjoy rugby league but the world cup is realistically between Australia New Zealand and England with other nations just making up the numbers71BReply posted by Bobby Burrows today at 20 52Bobby Burrows
20:52to greg"I so enjoy rugby league but the world cup is realistically between Australia New Zealand and England with other nations just making up the numbers"Bobby Burrows replied: Don't say that!! It will upset the elderly M62 Northern Englishmen diehards46More replies (3)downMComment posted by Magic Man Malignaggi today at 20 38Magic Man Malignaggi
20:38Let me guess before reading any comments, there are some really sad Union fans on here with nothing better to do on a Saturday night….104BReply posted by Bobby Burrows today at 20 43Bobby Burrows
20:43to Magic Man Malignaggi"Let me guess before reading any comments, there are some really sad Union fans on here with nothing better to do on a Saturday night…."Bobby Burrows replied: And Football, and Cricket, and Basketball fans.. it's great to have an opinion23More replies (6)downSComment posted by spinkbottle today at 19 28spinkbottle
19:28I don't watch a lot of RL so I might be very wrong but the commentary on the game seemed to suggest that England did little wrong while France ran in three tries and England squandered several attacking opportunitiesPlay like that against the Aussies and they will be hammered won't they?126S
Reply posted by Stevejh today at 19 33Stevejh
19:33to spinkbottle"I don't watch a lot of RL so I might be very wrong but the commentary on the game seemed to suggest that England did little wrong while France ran in three tries and England squandered several attacking opportunitiesPlay like that against the Aussies and they will be hammered won't they?"Stevejh replied: Play like anything against the aussies and they will beat you.64More replies (1)downHComment posted by Haveaniceday today at 19 36Haveaniceday
19:36They’ll need to sort that defence out if they want to win the competition50YComment posted by yup today at 19 37yup
19:37Shocking decision not to review the first England try at the beginning of the 2nd half. In real time a clear forward pass - how come they missed it ?Took the wind out of France's sails that.73M