Head coach Shaun Wane praised England’s spirit and togetherness after rounding off their group campaign at the Rugby League World Cup with a record-breaking 94-4 win over Greece at Bramall Lane.
Twenty-one-year-old winger Dom Young now tops the tournament’s try scorers list with eight after scoring four of his side’s 17 tries, in what was a dominant victory over a weak opponent to make it three wins from three.
“Dom is playing really well, trains well and is very quiet off the field,” said Wane. “He knows how to score and carry yardage and I’ve been really impressed with him. He is a talent there is no doubt about it. He can score and is very, very skilful.”
On the other wing England’s record try scorer Ryan Hall scored twice to make it 39 in 40 appearances for his country, moving second in the list of all-time top World Cup try scorers.
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After big wins over Samoa and then France, this victory margin was England’s highest ever in a World Cup game. And ahead of the knockout stage Wane says this is where his squad will thrive.
“It’s sudden death now, we will train hard and these are the weeks I like when there is pressure and we have to win,” he said. “The spirit and togetherness we have as a group is through the roof. It makes you proud to be English.
“I’m coaching the best of the best and our training sessions are easy. They are really smart, intelligent, skilful players and the best we have. I’m desperate to make sure this will carry on for a few more weeks.”
After last week’s win over France, Wane felt his team were let down by a lack of impact off his bench, something the squad worked hard on through the week to put right against Greece, with Tom Burgess outstanding during his spells on the field. So did Wane see that improvement off his subs bench in Sheffield?
“Yes I did,” Wane tells The Sportsman. “I saw that today, our bench was great. I don’t want to discredit Greece but that was a tough one to play. I thought we did a lot of good things. It was tough for us to gain positives so it was just one of them where we had to win to go into next week with some confidence."
England are expected to face Papua New Guinea in the quarter-finals at the DW Stadium if, as expected, Tonga win that group.
“Everybody will be ready to play and I will pick the 17 who I think can win at Wigan,” Wane added. “I’m just glad that we have had really physical training sessions so the players have been good going into every game. We have a strong squad to pick from and three strong wingers. I will pick the two that can get us the win against Papua New Guinea."
Greece coach Steve Georgallis was bursting with pride at his squad’s efforts, and felt they may have just played against the eventual tournament winners.
“Definitely. I think it will be PNG next, who will be tough, but from what I have seen they can go all the way,” he said. “Class just shone but the players never gave up. Our domestic players probably play four or five games a year and have just played one of the best teams in the world. This is not a month’s holiday [for us]. This is the start of rugby league in Greece.”
England play their quarter-final next Saturday in Wigan, with a PNG win against Wales on Monday likely to confirm them as runners-up in Group D.
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