Don Young admits even he can’t believe how well his World Cup’s going.
The rookie winger equalled England’s record for most tries in a game by scoring four in the first half alone during Saturday’s 94-4 rout of Greece. He is the tenth player to do so. The likes of Sam Tomkins and legendary Martin Offiah have both achieved the same feat and Young is the first since Ryan Hall against France in 2012.
But the Newcastle Knights flier also now has eight tries in just three World Cup games having scored twice on debut in the opener against Samoa and following up with another brace v France. That equals the England record also set by Hall who finished with eight in the 2013 World Cup where the hosts slipped out against New Zealand at the semi-final stage.
Young hopes England can go all the way in this tournament and win the World Cup for the first time. But he concedes he still doesn’t take it for granted he’ll be picked with Tommy Makinson and Hall both vying for wing spots in Saturday’s likely quarter-final versus Papua New Guinea.
Having shot onto the international scene, the strapping Yorkshireman said: “Hopefully I’ve done enough. I tried leaving it all out on the pitch in each game. I probably couldn’t have expected it to go the way it has but I’m loving every minute.
“Everyone wants to be in that 17. There’s a lot of competition for places and I think that’s why we’ve been playing so well. It’s about building that momentum now. We’ve played well each game in the group and it’s taking that into the knockout games. If we keep doing that, we can get to that final. It’s going to be a big step up. If it’s PNG, they’re a great team and they’re going to come out firing.”
At half-time, Young was not only on course to break England's record but also usurp Valentine Holmes’ World Cup record of six tries, scored for Australia v Fiji in 2017.
However, in the second period much of the action went down the opposite flank with Hall finishing with two - taking his record to 39 tries in 40 England Tests - and Makinson, playing full-back, also crossing. Young said: “I was a little disappointed about that.
“The ball didn’t come my way like it did in the first half, but that’s alright, I’ll take four. I didn’t know about the record but I am proud every time I put the shirt on and to make history I guess is pretty special.”
