Four-try Dom Young continued his remarkable World Cup odyssey as England eased past minnows Greece.
The Newcastle Knights flier had already established himself as one of the tournament superstars after bursting on to the international scene in spectacular style. After doubles against Samoa and France, the giant winger bagged four more in the first half alone here at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane.
It took his World Cup tally to eight in just three games and helped England along the way to their biggest-ever Test win. Boss Shaun Wane will hope the 21-year-old can maintain such form as they now begin preparations for a likely quarter-final with Papua New Guinea.
Crucially, his side - led brilliantly by Warrington half-back George Williams - appeared to come out of this last group game unscathed. Greece is one of the many feel-good stories of this World Cup.
It’s the first time they have qualified for the tournament and that is all the more remarkable given the sport was banned in Greece until just three months ago. Clubs had to play in secret, often at midnight under shrouds of secrecy to evade arrest.
Little wonder the Bramall Lane crowd joined in unison to celebrate their try in the 17th minute. Young Cronulla Sharks full-back Siteni Taukamo, who had already created history by scoring Greece's first World Cup try, was the one who got it after Kai Pearce-Paul’s poor defensive misread.
At that point, Greece only trailed 10-4 and had been good value with Wane’s side struggling for cohesion and proving particularly scrappy. Ryan Hall dropped one pass, Andy Ackers gave another forward and Williams also coughed the ball up to encourage their opponents.
But the hosts soon sorted themselves out to dominate, Williams floating a long ball for Young to get his second. Tom Burgess then charged back the restart and Marc Sneyd kicked early for Hall to claim his 38th try in 40 England games.
Burgess scored himself when charging onto Williams’ inside ball and Young, who had earlier crossed from John Bateman’s pass, got his first Test hat-trick when Bateman and Pearce-Paul combined smartly again.
Williams put Pearce-Paul away for Young to add his fourth almost immediately before Williams supported Chris Hill’s break to get on the scoresheet himself, Sneyd’s conversion making it 42-4 at the break.
Sneyd’s awkward kick caused mayhem for Greece as Tommy Makinson - the St Helens winger playing full-back with captain Sam Tomkins rested - continued the scoring spree at the start of the second period.
Sneyd, Burgess, Hall, debutant Joe Batchelor, Ackers (2) and Pearce-Paul all added further tries as England eased home. Typically, Young helped finish things off, motoring down his right flank to send Mike McMeeken in for their 17th try of the afternoon, Sneyd ending with 13 goals.
