England confirmed top spot in group A of the wheelchair tournament at the Rugby League World Cup with a massive 121-0 win over Ireland at the Copper Box Arena in London.
The hosts subjected Ireland to a hammering as Joe Coyd and James Simpson each scoring four tries and substitutes Jack Brown and Nathan Collins both posting hat-tricks. But Ireland head coach Damian McCabe will take heart from the fact his side became a tougher unit to break down in the second half having trailed 66-0 at the break.
The sensational England performance was played out in front of another world record attendance for a wheelchair rugby league game, with 3,847 in attendance at the Copper Box for a third successive new high mark.
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Seb Bechara immediately put England on the front foot, outstripping the Irish defence to score. And Coyd escaped a desperate tackle attempt on the line to make it 12-0 within seven minutes. By the time Tom Halliwell raced clear for the hosts’ third try the game already felt over as a contest.
All three scorers added a second each and James Simpson grabbed a brace of his own as England opened up a 42-0 lead inside 25 minutes, and there was to be no let-up for an Ireland side who were left chasing shadows.
By half-time they had a 66-0 advantage, with Coyd completing his hat-trick and both Brown and Nathan Collins coming on to immediate effect.
Brown had a hat-trick within 15 minutes of coming on, and Collins’ second had England 78 to the good with a quarter of the game still to play. It was at that point that substitute Declan Roberts entered the fray for the home side to come up against his father Phil in an Ireland shirt.
After Collins completed his treble, Declan Roberts’ kick ahead was touched down by Lewis King. Adam Rigby then raced past the cover defence to make it 96, and soon burst through a gap to bring up the century. Simpson and Coyd both then made scoring returns off the bench to close off the try-scoring and Declan Roberts adding a drop goal.
England will now face the team which finishes second in Group B behind World Cup favourites France in the semi-final at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield on Sunday. Wales know that a win over Scotland on Thursday will be enough to meet the hosts in the last four so long as USA don’t somehow beat Les Bleus.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
