Arabic version: إنجلترا تسحق فرنسا وتحافظ على آمال بلوغ نصف النهائي
According to BBC News, England kept their Rugby League World Cup semi-final hopes alive with an 82-0 victory over France in Perth. The result followed England’s 30-12 opening defeat by Tonga and improved their points-difference position after Tonga and Samoa had recorded big wins.
England endured a scoreless first quarter and made six errors in the opening 20 minutes before Dom Young crossed in the corner after 23 minutes. Matty Ashton, Herbie Farnworth and captain George Williams added tries as England built a 36-0 half-time lead. Farnworth completed a first-half hat-trick, England’s first at a World Cup since Tommy Makinson against Papua New Guinea in 2022.
Young added two more tries after the interval to complete his own treble. Victor Radley, Jez Litten, Mikey Lewis, Jack Welsby and AJ Brimson also scored, with Lewis getting two tries. Hugo Savala converted 13 of 14 attempts for 26 points as England finished with 14 tries and surpassed Samoa’s 74-point winning margin against France.
England now face Papua New Guinea in Wollongong on Friday and need another strong result. They also require Tonga to beat Samoa next Sunday. Samoa had beaten Papua New Guinea 62-6 earlier, leaving England 150 points behind Samoa on points difference before the France match. France, who have not reached the semi-finals since 1992, threatened at times but could not score.
