England 74-0 Wales

[The Clan]

England (42) 74
Tries: Purdham, Briscoe 2, Sykes 2, Gleeson 2, Myler 2, Calderwood, Clubb, Hock, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Fox Goals: Purdham 9

Wales (0) 0


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/7642490.stm

England warmed up for the Rugby League World Cup with a 14-try drubbing of Wales in Doncaster.
Once Rob Purdham went over after seven minutes for the opening score of the game, Tony Smith's side were dominant.
There were two tries apiece for captain Martin Gleeson, Shaun Briscoe, Paul Sykes and young Salford scrum-half Richie Myler.
Mark Calderwood, Tony Clubb, Gareth Hock, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Peter Fox also crossed.
It was England's biggest-ever win over Wales and was achieved without the St Helens and Leeds players who were involved in last weekend's Grand Final.
Smith's side, featuring eight players who will be part of the World Cup squad, looked the sharper from the start as they tormented the Wales defence.
Mickey Higham at dummy-half created the opportunities for Gleeson to capitalise from stand-off.
Purdham, on his full international debut, sidestepped though before Briscoe took Gleeson's pass to go over and Sykes opened his account.
Gleeson, who scored a hat-trick in the mid-season international against France, made the most of the space afforded to him before Myler got the first of his two tries.

606: DEBATE
Give your reaction to England's victory

Wales had no answer to Calderwood's pace on the wing and he set Sykes free to cross before Gleeson added his second.
Wales trailed 36-0 when they created their first clear-cut scoring chance but centre Aled James, one of seven Celtic Crusaders players, was denied by the video referee.
It took England less than a minute of the second half to extend their lead, with a Hock offload enabling substitute Tony Clubb to mark his debut with his first touch
Hock quickly followed Clubb over the line and Myler then finished a Purdham break for his second try.
McCarthy-Scarsbrook went over from close range before Myler carved out a second try for Briscoe and winger Fox put the seal on an emphatic win.


England coach Tony Smith:
"It was a game that we needed for players to blow a few cobwebs out of the system and we came though unscathed, which is an extra bonus.
"They enhanced their chances, which is good, because I want as many selection headaches as I can get.
"There was also valuable experience gained for a lot of the young guys. I can't speak highly enough of the spirit in the group."

Wales coach John Dixon:
"It's not a good day for us in terms of the score but in terms of long-term development this is a starting point.
"We've had a wonderful week. We've got a group of kids here who have come out of the National Conference and, to see them compete as well as they did, we can only grow from here.
"I thought the attitude and demeanour was terrific and so was the effort for 80 minutes. We were just beaten by the better team."


England: Shaun Briscoe (Hull KR); Peter Fox (Hull KR), Michael Shenton (Castleford), Paul Sykes (Bradford), Mark Calderwood (Wigan); Martin Gleeson (Warrington, capt), Richard Myler (Salford); Stuart Fielden (Wigan), Mickey Higham (Wigan), Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook (Harlequins), Gareth Hock (Wigan), Ben Westwood (Warrington), Rob Purdham (Harlequins).
Replacements: David Hodgson (Huddersfield), Jamie Langley (Bradford), Darryl Griffin (Huddersfield), Tony Clubb (Harlequins).
Wales: Dave Halley (Bradford Bulls); Damien Gibson (Halifax), Aled James (Celtic Crusaders), Lee Williams (Celtic Crusaders), Rhys Williams (Warrington Wolves); Mark Lennon (Celtic Crusaders), Ian Watson (Leigh Centurions); Craig Kopzcak (Bradford Bulls), Sean Penkywicz (Halifax), David Mills (Hull Kingston Rovers), Ben Flower (Celtic Crusaders), Geraint Davies (Celtic Crusaders), Andy Bracek (Warrington Wolves).
Replacements: Rhys Griffiths (Castleford Tigers), Jordan James (Celtic Crusaders), Matt Barron (Gateshead Thunder) Gil Dudson (Celtic Crusaders). Referee: Steve Ganson (St Helens)

 

[Jeffles]

They'll be resting on their laurels now the Poms. LOL

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Say what you like about Wales and this result but they are now on their way. By the next WC they will be up there with the likes of Ireland and Scotland at least, and what's more they will have a team full of born and bred Welshman and many of them will have come from the Welsh juniors or Welsh amateur set-up.

As for the poms, anything to help get the cocky gets' hopes up even further before PNG brings them crashing down. ;-)

 

[westie]

Fairly predictable. Hopefully some of the young fellas involved for Wales will develop into good players if they keep getting internationals and club starts at a decent level.

 

[nadera78]

I'll say this for the Taffs; they never gave in, even though they were completely out of their depth they still worked as hard as they could and did all in their power to take the game to England. If only people like Harris, Briers and Cunningham could say the same about their performances for Wales in recent times.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

I'll say this for the Taffs; they never gave in, even though they were completely out of their depth they still worked as hard as they could and did all in their power to take the game to England. If only people like Harris, Briers and Cunningham could say the same about their performances for Wales in recent times.

How very dare you. Kieron Cunningham hasn't played a bad game for Wales in the past seven years.

 

[griff]

Say what you like about Wales and this result

believe me, it's very hard to resist the temptation...

 

[nadera78]

:lol:

 

[Glen from the Mount]

Explains why Wales didn't qualify for the WC.

 

[bender]

Explains why Wales didn't qualify for the WC.

In fairness, it doesnt really. This was a very young welsh side, building for the future. England put 50 on France earlier this year. They are the strongest looking English side since the 60s, imo. Australia are nowhere near certainties to beat them. To me, they remind me so much of New Zealands 2000 WC team, which hit its straps perfectly in the tournament and ended up beating the Lebanese by a similar score, before going within a whisker of beating the Aussies. Wales should have a very strong side at the next world cup and over the next 4 years. A few very good players qualify through residency next year, they can expect to buy a decent union player or 2 to play for Celtic, their juniors who have been great at their current level are expanding and they will play a part in a professional setup. I expect that they will be the 4 th best side in the world again soon, but this time the likes of France, Samoa, Tonga, PNG etc should hopefully be a lot stronger and more familiar than they were when Wales took the place in the last world cups.

 

[westie]

Explains why Wales didn't qualify for the WC.

It's nothing like the side that turned out in the qualifiers...

 

[Kurt Angle]

They are the strongest looking English side since the 60s, imo

I do not the the equals of Hanley, Jackson, Betts, Platt and Clarke in the forwards, though close.

I definately do not see the equals of Connolly, Offiah, Newlove, Davies, Lydon, Schofield and Edwards in the backs.

 

[kiwileaguefan]

How very dare you. Kieron Cunningham hasn't played a bad game for Wales in the past seven years.

How many games has he played for Wales in the last seven years?

 

[roughyedspud]

none..thats the point :lol:

 

[kiwileaguefan]

In all fairness it was basicly a NL1 side vs a Super League side...but Wales had more locally produced players in this side compared to half the nations competiting at this World Cup.

The result was always going to be a big win for England, didnt think it was going to be this big though.

 

[bender]

I do not the the equals of Hanley, Jackson, Betts, Platt and Clarke in the forwards, though close.

I definately do not see the equals of Connolly, Offiah, Newlove, Davies, Lydon, Schofield and Edwards in the backs.

I was waiting for someone to bring up the late 80s/early 90s sides. Those sides had some good results and good players, but across the board, i dont believe they had the depth of quality that the current side seems to have and there certainly wasnt the depth of quality youngsters coming through that there seems to be at the moment. Look at the WCC. British sides were not in the same class as Aussies. Now you would back 3 or 4 to compete in the NRL (or at the very least not lose by 50 like they did back then). Depth is the key.

Of course i could be wrong though.

 

[In-goal]

In all honsety Leeds and St.Helens would more than hold there own in the NRL, if anyone thinks differently they just don't know the game.

The NRL and RSL are not that far apart in standard, if anything it's a much better spectacle to watch RSL than the one out NRL.

 

[deluded pom?]

Now you would back 3 or 4 to compete in the NRL (or at the very least not lose by 50 like they did back then). Depth is the key.

Of course i could be wrong though.

How many NRL teams have shipped 50+ points in a game in the last five years? I remember Newcastle going to Canberra a couple of years back and putting 70+ on the Raiders so all isn't sweetness and light in the lower reaches of the NRL.

 

[Calixte]

To be fair, the teams from both countries in 1990 were arguably better than this year.

Britain/England 2008 probably doesn't have the class of the 1990 scrumbase 3 who were all geniuses on their day...

Australia lacks the depth of quality in positions in 2008 compared to 1990.

I am still reserving judgment on my likely winner of the tournament until closer to it (cheers Mong ;-)) but England are in with a massive chance in my view.

This result against Wales should help fine tune some things. Looks good.

England need to stay on their game and NOT get complacent or lose composure in big games at crucial stages during the RLWC.

 

[bender]

How many NRL teams have shipped 50+ points in a game in the last five years? I remember Newcastle going to Canberra a couple of years back and putting 70+ on the Raiders so all isn't sweetness and light in the lower reaches of the NRL.

Yeah but in the ESL, they pretty much lost by that in every single game. Even Souths record was never that poor. There was previously a massive gap, from all bar the top 1 or maybe 2 teams in those days.