England stun PNG with first hafl blitz to secure semi final berth

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England Men v Papua New Guinea Men

England have continued their strong World Cup campaign, streaking out to a 38 point first half lead to dominate the PNG Kumuls in a 46-6 victory in Wigan.

There were ominous signs for Papua New Guinea early, with Dom Young making metres for fun with his kick returns. Those signs came to fruition in a stunning way throughout the first half, England in the 28th minute were up 38-0.

Their first try came when big Tom Burgess crashed his way through some soft defence to plant the ball down under the posts. England would get a set restart on their next set to help them advance the field, and from there Tommy Makinson would score his first of many with a nice pickup of a pinpoint Tomkins kick. 

England were setting the ton on both sides of the ball, turning a run of the mill last tackle kick into possession by chasing well and dragging Jimmy Ngutlik over the sideline, They took advantage of the opportunity, with Tomkins batting Williams' kick back and Dom Young finishing off the ensuing backline movement.

England would again find space on the edges, but it was only due to Makinson magic that they would score again, the talented winger out leaping his opposite number and out muscling Johnston to get the ball to the ground. 

The score was at that point 20-0 with a couple of missed English conversions, and that would be extended even further over the next several minute. Englands next try came after a John Bateman line break was finished off by George WIlliams in a try with a 2020 Raiders feel to it. The next one was scored by Kallum Watkins but can be put down to Dom Young beating Tai one on one and setting his centre up for an easy score. 

All of a sudden it was 32-0 after 26 minutes, but it didn't stop there. Alex Johnston looked to have secured a catch in goal and a much needed reprieve for the Kumuls, however he put the ball down at the last second and, you guessed it, Tommy Makinson was there to clean up the scraps and score the try.

The rest of the game was uneventful by the first half an hour's standard. England came out of the sheds looking a little lethargic, which is understandable considering the impending semi against Tonga or Samoa. There were errors aplenty, and only in the 58th minute were we graced with second half points, scored by, you guessed it, Tommy Makinson, the winger going over untouched. 

PNG would get a consolation try with just over 10 minutes to go, with Lam putting a nice grubber in for Ngutlik who won the race. 

England would have the last laugh though, scoring in the 76th minute. I'm not even going to say who it was, if you've rad this far down you can probably guess (it was said players fifth try of the match). The final score ended as 46-6. 

Next week, England will either have a showdown against Tonga or a rematch against Samoa, while this is where the story ends for PNG.