ENGLAND 82 FRANCE 0
STEPHEN IBBETSON, HBF Park, Perth, Saturday

ENGLAND did about as much as they reasonably could in pursuit of a semi-final place by putting 14 tries past weary France.

Herbie Farnworth and Dom Young both scored hat-tricks among the haul, Hugo Savala converted all but one while AJ Brimson got the last try having torn the French to shreds once their early resistance was broken.

It was just the response required to the opening Tonga defeat as Brian McDermott’s first win as coach was delivered with attacking style, and also what they needed to keep hopes of progression alive.

They are now locked in a head-to-head with Samoa, who have thrashed France and Papua New Guinea, to qualify from the group, and must beat the Kumuls on Friday then hope for a Samoan defeat to Tonga – with a combined points differential of 68 overturned in the process.

England surprisingly made just one change to the side beaten by Tonga, summoning Matty Ashton late in the week for Zach Eckersley.

And the winger looked to have given them the perfect start when he went in off a Brimson pass after just five minutes – only to have lost hold of the ball before grounding.

Instead England endured a tough opening quarter, finding all their other attempts to play wide with precision shut down by a very hard-working French defence.

And if it wasn’t for errors from France when their field position improved, the England defence would have come under some sustained pressure too.

Finally it was left to George Williams to make the breakthrough, crafting a line break and throwing an offload out to Young.

Sensing a more direct running threat was the way to go as France began to tire and Jez Litten was introduced, Brimson made a break off the kick-off and threw wide to Ashton who had too much speed to be caught and now had his try.

And that became three tries in the space of four minutes when Harry Smith stepped through the middle of the French defence and found Farnworth on his shoulder.

Another four-minute spell piled another 18 points onto the scoreboard before half-time, with Farnworth getting two of them to complete a first-half hat-trick.

He benefitted from an offload by Junior Nsemba after nice play from the halves, who then linked up after an offload from the other back-rower Kai Pearce-Paul on halfway, with Smith assisting Williams.

Savala then played Young down the right flank and Farnworth popped up on the far side to get his third try and make it 36-0 at the break.

It took only seven minutes of the second half for any remaining French fight to be broken, with a long, low kick from Williams presenting Young with his second try.

Litten then seized an opportunity to run from dummy-half, Williams split the line and Victor Radley was the supporting man to touch down.

Just before the hour Litten added his name to the scoresheet after Brimson slipped through, and England knew now was their chance to build that all-important points difference, throwing Mikey Lewis and Jack Welsby onto the field to go all-out attack.

Brimson tore through the defence with a kick return and Welsby passed on for a Lewis try, then France’s short kick-off was claimed by Young who galloped away for his hat-trick.

Another Brimson break from deep led to a Welsby try before Lewis scored again, stepping past two exhausted defenders for an all-so-easy score.

France finally kept some possession in the final ten minutes but couldn’t hold on until the end, as Brimson finished the try of the night featuring a Lewis chip over the top and Smith finding the fullback wide.

A further six points could have come with a minute to go, but Nsemba was unable to reach the line or find a teammate with his offload after a cross-field kick stretched France again.

They’ll hope to pick up on Friday where they left off here, in which they case they might just have a chance.

GAMESTAR: AJ Brimson registered a try and three assists while running 289 metres and five line breaks.

GAMEBREAKER: George Williams’ break got the ball rolling after France poured all their energy into the opening quarter.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: England perhaps saved the best try for last when Mikey Lewis and Harry Smith combined for AJ Brimson’s deserved score.

MATCHFACTS

ENGLAND
1 AJ Brimson
2 Dom Young
3 Hugo Savala
4 Herbie Farnworth
19 Matty Ashton
6 George Williams
7 Harry Smith
8 Max King
9 Brad O’Neill
10 Luke Thompson
11 Junior Nsemba
12 Kai Pearce-Paul
13 Victor Radley
Subs
14 Jez Litten
15 Ben Currie (not used)
16 Ethan Havard (not used)
17 Sam Walters
18 Jack Welsby
21 Mikey Lewis

Tries: Young (23, 47, 65), Ashton (25), Farnworth (27, 36, 40), Williams (38), Radley (49), Litten (59), Lewis (63, 69), Welsby (67), Brimson (78)
Goals: Savala 13/14

FRANCE
1 Arthur Mourgue
5 Benjamin Laguerre
3 Latrell Siegwalt
4 Roméo Tropis
19 Fouad Yaha
6 Thomas Lacans
7 Théo Fages
8 Romain Navarrete
9 Amir Bourouh
10 Julian Bousquet
11 Arthur Romano
12 Mathieu Jussaume
13 Ben Garcia
Subs
2 Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet
14 César Rougé (not used)
15 Lambert Belmas
16 Mathieu Cozza
17 Louis Grossemy
18 Jordan Dezaria (not used)

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 18-0, 24-0, 30-0, 36-0; 40-0, 46-0, 52-0, 58-0, 64-0, 70-0, 76-0, 82-0

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
England: AJ Brimson; France: Amir Bourouh

Penalty count: 3-3
Half-time: 36-0
Referee: Adam Gee
Attendance: 13,087