Shaun Wane hailed the outstanding Tommy Makinson as the winger’s record five tries saw England romp into the World Cup semi-finals with a stunning 46-6 win over Papua New Guinea in Wigan.
With the Princess of Wales watching on, England blew PNG away with a near-perfect first half hour that saw winger Makinson complete a hat-trick as the hosts romped into a devastating 38-0 lead.
A shell-shocked PNG finally saw some ball before half-time but were unable to cross, with the only points of a subdued and error-strewn second half yielding a fourth try for Makinson before Jimmy Ngutlik’s consolation in the corner.
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Makinson then became the first player to score five tries for England in a single match with another sharp finish. The St Helens winger finished with a 30-point haul.
“Tommy was outstanding. He is a top man. As a man and a player he was fantastic,” said Wane.
“He is easy to coach and has been a pain in the backside as a club (against Wigan) so to coach him for the national side is a dream.”
Despite some errors after half-time with the game already won, the England boss insists he was delighted with the overall performance, in rain-drenched conditions at the DW Stadium.
“I’m really happy,” he told The Sportsman.
“The first 30 minutes was faultless. Overall for a quarter final against a very good team I’m very happy. I thought our attack was great, our starting middles were really good.
“When you look at the conditions I was so impressed. That’s probably the best 30 minutes we have had.
“The spirit we have created is so enjoyable it’s untrue. It’s up to us now to create history. I understand the talent left in this competition and our semi final will be really, really tough but I’m very happy with the players we have got. We have some tough challenges ahead of us.”
PNG forward Rhyse Martin acknowledged his side were not good enough, but believes they may have been beaten by the eventual winners.
“They have quality forwards who are hard to handle, they could go all the way.”
Kumuls coach Stanley Tepend felt his side won the second half, but backed Martin’s assessment of England’s credentials.
“They are the best side we have played and will be a threat in the semi finals and final.”
England now await the winners of Sunday’s mouthwatering clash between Tonga and Samoa in Warrington, with Samoa having improved immeasurably since their thumping opening-day defeat by Wane’s side.
“I’m absolutely not bothered who we play now,” Wane added.
“Next week we will need to be more intense. It will be a different ball game. We will get to London on Thursday and be ready for the challenge on Saturday.
“I knew we had a talented group but this is the first real camp I’ve been in with them. I knew they could play but they have played better than I could have thought and gelled quicker. They are good players who get things very, very quickly.
“Other teams will see that we are winning but I do genuinely believe we can still get better.
“In my heart I know what we can do. We can play better for longer and will need to do that against a different level of competition.”
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