NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 15: Kallum Watkins (3L) of England celebrates with teammates after scoring their side’s fourth try during the Rugby League World Cup 2021 Pool A match between England and Samoa at St. James Park on October 15, 2022 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images for RLWC)
England have hammered Samoa in the opening match of the Rugby League World Cup, running on a half-century of points.
The home side would hold the ascendancy at halftime, but seven tries in the second half, including six in the final 20 minutes, saw them bolt away from a 14-man Samoa.
Samoa, who also had to deal with ten minutes of Anthony Milford in the sin bin, found themselves without Braden Hamlin-Uele and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow after halftime, while Tyrone May was also taken from the field by stretcher during the second half.
A tight opening to the game gave way to England taking complete control of the contest.
They would run on the first three tries of the game, with debutant winger Dominic Young – who had a superb season with the Newcastle Knights and elected to play for England over Jamaica at the World Cup – running on a double.
It came after a penalty goal, which made up for a single missed conversion, with the three tries putting England up 18 points to nil.
Jack Welsby would score the first try off a ball from George Williams, before it was Welsby himself who would assist Young’s two tries.
The first came in the way of a long-range effort as a lovely cut out ball put Young into space, before the second was from closer range as the England-born winger flew over to score.
Samoa, who struggled with their attack in the face of England, finally started to get back into the game, although errors continued to hamper them.
The Pacific Island nation would score through Izack Tago off a long-range intercept, but that’s where the fun stopped as Samoa struggled to stay in the contest.
England would score the first of the second half through Kallum Watkins, before all of Herbie Farnworth, Elliott Whitehead (twice), Tommy Makinson, George Williams and Thomas Burgess ended up on the scoresheet.
England will now take on France, while Samoa will have must-win games against both Greece and France to make the quarter-finals.
Match summary
England 54 (Tries: Jack Welsby, Dominic Young [2], Kallum Watkins, Herbie Farnworth, Elliott Whitehead [2], Tommy Makinson, George Williams, Thomas Burgess Conversions: Tommy Makinson 8/10 Penalty goal: Tommy Makinson 2/2) lead Samoa 6 (Try: Izack Tago, Conversion: Stephen Crichton 1/1)
Source:: ZeroTackle
