England thrash France to keep alive World Cup hopes

retained text

England thrash France to keep alive World Cup hopes
- Published
England (36) 82
Tries: Farnworth 3, Young 3, Lewis 2, Ashton, Williams, Radley, Litten, Welsby, Brimson Goals: Savala 13
France (0) 0
After losing their opener, then watching Tonga and Samoa rack up huge victories, England knew only a massive win over France in Perth would keep alive their World Cup dreams.
Mission accomplished: 82-0. But they still require a lot of work and a pinch of luck to reach the semi-finals.
England needed this margin of victory following their 30-12 defeat by Tonga last Saturday.
They must do the same against Papua New Guinea in Wollongong on Friday - then hope Tonga beat Samoa next Sunday.
After a nervy opening quarter, in which England looked weighed down by expectations and permutations, they finally got going with three tries in four first-half minutes.
By half-time, England had six converted tries on the board including a Herbie Farnworth hat-trick. Come full time, Dom Young also bagged a treble and England had 14.
After 23 minutes, England found their breakthrough as captain George Williams - overwhelmed by Tonga last week and initially nervy here - broke the line before a clever behind-the-back pass set up Young to score in the corner.
England had, belatedly, arrived at this World Cup as a force to be reckoned with. Soon after, full-back AJ Brimson - whose direct runs pierced France time and again - led a breakaway before finding Matty Ashton.
The wing had knocked on over the try line early on to spill a seemingly certain England opener, but made no mistake here for his seventh try in six Tests.
Harry Smith spotted the gap before setting up Farnworth for his first try on 27 minutes. And after a period of defence against a France side - who threatened sporadically but made too many simple mistakes - Farnworth scored again nine minutes later.
Williams powered over under the posts for 30-0, and then came England's best move of the World Cup just before the break - slick through the hands to the right before Young set Farnworth back in for his third.
Eight minutes after the break, Young chased down a grubber kick to bring up 40 points - before Jez Litten and Williams cut through a tiring defence and Victor Radley scored unopposed.
England needed to repel another French siege, before overpowering at the other end for Litten - who impressed as an interchange - to score. Another Brimson surge led the way for try number 10, scored by Mikey Lewis.
A dreadful short kick-off was caught by Young, who raced through for his hat-trick. Jack Welsby got on the act for try 12, a third score in four minutes, as the French surrendered.
The 13th try - scored by Lewis who broke through two weak tackles - ensured England surpassed Samoa's 74-point winning margin against the French.
After a frustrating few minutes where they had to defend deep for their clean sheet, England finally reached 80 as Brimson scored a deserved try.
Hugo Savala was also a key figure with superb kicking. He only missed one goal from 14 attempts, adding 26 points.
England are far from perfect. They made six errors in the opening 20 minutes - and a better side than France, who haven't reached the semi-finals since 1992, would have taken advantage.
But it all comes down to points on the scoreboard - and England must hope they have enough.
After Samoa thrashed Papua New Guinea 62-6 earlier, England were a massive 150 behind the Samoans on points difference - which, if Tonga beat Samoa next weekend, would be the deciding factor between the teams as to who reaches the semis.
A hefty win here helps the English cause, but they still need work and luck to avoid missing the World Cup last four for the first time ever.
Matt's player of the match - AJ Brimson
There was a moment in this game where AJ Brimson had just crashed through two would-be tacklers and completely split France wide open, and his England team mate Max King gave him a look of admiration.
This was a full-back doing the hard yards for his team - and the paceman appreciated it. His fingerprints were all over this win.
The little man was a menace throughout with ball in hand and defused much of France's threat at the other end.
His yardage was immense, line breaks frequent and finishing touches to release team-mates crucial, and he even grabbed a score of his own.
The standard has been set and Brimson a big part of it.