WIGAN – There haven’t been many passages of play like it. Between the 11th minute and the 30th, Papua New Guinea only touched the ball six times: a knock on in goal and five kick offs. The possession stats stood at 100% for England.
As shows of strength go, this one took some beating. England smashed PNG 46-6 at the DW Stadium, but the scoreline is only half the story. The method of it, especially in that first period, was brutal.
England were under the watchful eye of the Princess of Wales, guest of honour in Wigan, and even in her presumably extensive rugby league spectating career, she can’t have seen many more impressive showings than that put on by Shaun Wane’s men.
Tom Burgess was spectacular, running for 100m within the first 20 minutes, and George Williams right behind him, demonstrating his short kicking prowess with several assists. Sam Tomkins joined him, and Tommy Makinson benefitted to the tune of five tries.
It wasn’t that the Kumuls were particularly bad: they simply weren’t allowed to play. The central tenets of Waneball are physicality, line speed and possession, and England had all three. PNG didn’t stand a chance. Very rarely are they outmuscled, but there was no other way to describe what happened in the first half.
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The tone was set from tackle one, as Victor Radley sent in a huge hit that knocked Wellington Albert back. More than once, Burgess battered into the line and carried Kumuls with him. It was no surprise when he managed to stand in contact, twist and make his way to the floor for England’s first.
Makinson got his first and England’s second after a smart grubber from Sam Tomkins and, from the kick off, Nene Macdonald was bundled into touch by a gang of English defenders. It was the last time PNG would touch the ball for 19 minutes.
In that time, England ran in five tries, with two more for Makinson, one for Dom Young and a superb try that saw the ball go through several sets of hands before William slid over backwards and grounded.
The third for Makinson was highly unusual. Williams kicked, Roderick Tai dropped the ball and the St Helens winger pounced. The try was prosaic, but the method wasn’t: referee Liam Moore awarded a 20m tap, England objected and – for probably the first time in rugby league history – were given the try on Captain’s Challenge.
The cue went in the rack with the score at 36-0 before the half hour and PNG thoroughly knackered. The second half was something of a non-event: Makinson got his fourth and fifth, with a Jimmy Ngutlik consolation sandwiched between them.
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