Britain cruise to warm up victory

Danny McGuire and David Hodgson scored two tries each as Great Britain cruised past a Newcastle Select XIII 40-6 in a Tri-Nations warm-up game.

Great Britain had too much class for their opponents, running in seven tries in a solid performance ahead of next weekend's opener against New Zealand.

The Lions scored twice in the first 10 minutes and were 24-6 up by the break.

In a fiery encounter, the Lions' Jamie Peacock and Paul Wood were sin-binned, along with two Newcastle players.

The Great Britain line-up did not feature any players from Super League champions St Helens or Grand Final losers Hull, who had only arrived in Australia on Wednesday.

Bradford Bulls hooker Terry Newton was not selected while the game enabled Sydney Roosters hard man Adrian Morley to clear his suspension.

Leeds Rhinos' McGuire opened the Lions' account, slicing through Newcastle's defence to score out wide before Wigan Warriors second rower Gareth Hock then strolled over from close range.

Huddersfield winger Martin Aspinwall completed a slick backline move to cross in the left corner, and Lee Briers kept up his flawless conversion record to put the Lions 18-0 up.

In greasy conditions, Newcastle capitalised on some sloppy ball control from the Lions midway through the half to score their only try of the match through Ji Hill.

Leeds Rhinos' Rob Burrow came off the bench and added a fourth try before half-time, ducking past two defenders to take his side into the break leading 24-6.

Both teams were reduced to 12 men in the final seconds of the half after Lions replacement Wood and Newcastle counterpart Ian Bourke were sin-binned for fighting.

Salford winger Hodgson came on for Newcastle Knights' Brian Carney after the break and had an immediate impact, diving over in the right corner twice in six minutes.

McGuire then claimed his second try, stepping his way through a gap in the Newcastle defence to score between the posts.

The second half ended in the same way as the first, with Lions captain Peacock and Newcastle's Peter Jensen sent to the sin-bin after coming to blows.

Great Britain coach Brian Noble said "I think we needed the hit-out.

"We had a lot of guys who hadn't played for six weeks and I think that contributed to the level of skill not being what we would have liked.

"But we got what we wanted out of the game. We're really pleased with what we've achieved."

Newcastle Select XIII 6 (6) Tries: Hill Goals: Queenan

Great Britain 40 (24) Tries: McGuire 2, Hock, Aspinwall, Burrow, Hodgson 2 Goals: Briers 6

Source: bbc.co.uk