Rugby League World Cup 2017: England into quarter-finals with 36-3 defeat of France to set-up Papua New Guinea clash

Gareth Widdop scored twice as England thrashed France 36-6 NRLPhotos
England are through to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup quarter-finals and will face Papua New Guinea after defeating France 36-6 in Perth.
At a warm Perth Rectangular Stadium England followed up its 19-point win over Lebanon last weekend in Sydney with a convincing seven-try performance against the French.
The victory means they finish second in Group A, behind Australia, and meet the Kumuls in Melbourne on 19 November.

It was an explosive start for England with Gareth Widdop, in the unusual position of fullback, crossing after just two minutes. Kevin Brown found Luke Gale and the half-back’s cut-out pass released Widdop, who dummied and glided over easily.
England were almost in again only three minutes later, but referee Phil Bentham got in the way of Gale after French full-back Mark Kheirallah spilled Brown’s bomb. However, from the next set Stefan Ratchford dived over in the corner to make it 12-0.

Prop James Graham scored England's third try (NRLPhotos)

The free-scoring continued in the ninth minute when James Graham powered through some feeble French defence and Widdop nailed his third consecutive conversion.
England’s crisp passing and fast ball movement was too hot for Les Tricolores to handle. France managed to keep them out for 14 minutes and then Mark Percival touched down to take the lead to 22-0.

Widdop was in good form with the boot as he kicked four conversions (NRLPhotos)

The new-look spine of Widdop, Gale, Brown and James Roby was combining perfectly, giving head coach Wayne Bennett some serious thinking to do ahead of next week’s quarter-final. Centre Percival, making his World Cup debut, also pressed his selection claims with a try.
John Bateman got England’s fifth four-pointer, crashing past some weak tackling on the left edge in the 29th minute. But France hit back five minutes later, Benjamin Garcia finding England napping between the posts to sneak through and make it 26-6 at the break.
Normal service resumed in the second half with Widdop putting Jermaine McGillvary over barely a minute after the interval.

Stefan Ratchford is tackled during England's victory over France (NRLPhotos)

France continued to be their own worst enemy, coughing up the ball and failing to stop England’s quick play-the-balls.
Les Tricolores half-back Lucas Albert got over the line in the 57th minute, after Graham’s loose carry, but the try was ruled out because of a forward pass.
Errors started to creep into England’s attack as the humidity and the attritional nature of the contest took effect.
With sixteen minutes left McGillvary got his second, after Brown passed to Mike McMeeken and the forward found the winger in space. It was McGillvary’s ninth try in his past nine Tests for his country.

James Percival made a good impression that could see him start against Papua New Guinea (NRLPhotos)

Bennett continued to rotate his men and experiment with positions in the final stages, taking McGillvary off and moving Percival to the wing and George Williams into the centres.
In the earlier match in Perth, Wales finished its dismal World Cup campaign with a third heavy defeat in a row, going down 34-6 to Ireland.
The Irish claimed its second victory from three games down under, but are also headed home, with their loss to Papua New Guinea costing them a place in the quarter-finals against England.