England 94-4 Greece: Shaun Wane’s side run in 17 tries to finish top of Group A

Josh McAllister 29 Oct 2022 4:19 PM

England have finished the group stages unbeaten following a 94-4 victory over Greece at Sheffield’s Bramall Lane, running in 17 tries.

Wins over Samoa and France sees Shaun Wane’s side at the top of Group A and are set to face the runner-up of Group D in the quarter-finals.

Superstar Dom Young crossed for an impressive four tries in Sheffield, taking his World Cup tally to eight so far.

Ryan Hall also crossed for two more tries, taking his World Cup history tally to 14. It boosts the Hull KR man to joint-second alongside Jarryd Hayne with 14.

Match report

England boss Wane made a handful of changes to his side that defeated France 42-18 in Bolton. Captain and full-back Sam Tomkins was rested, with Tommy Makinson named at full-back. Jack Welsby featured at centre, with Kai Pearce-Paul and Joe Batchelor both starting for their first caps.

Greece welcomed back captain Jordan Meads, who missed last week’s defeat to Samoa. Forward Billy Magoulias missed out. Theodoros Nianiakas, who featured for National Conference League side Woolston Rovers in 2022, was named on the bench.

England took less than three minutes to open the scoring. A mistake at the back from Greece forced a goal-line drop out, which gave Matty Lees the opportunity to score the game’s first thanks to a slick assist from Marc Sneyd.

Young scored his fifth try of the World Cup campaign on 13 minutes, with an assist from a dangerous-looking John Bateman.

Playing at full-back, Siteni Taukamo hit back for Greece on 18 minutes, crossing in the corner for a 10-4 scoreline with to a poor defensive read from Pearce-Paul.

But it was all England from there. Young crossed for his second try of the game on 25 minutes, this time with thanks to a lovely looping ball from half-back George Williams.

It was then the turn for the other wing, with Hall getting in on the action. The 34-year-old chasing down a kick from Sneyd to the corner to score.

Tom Burgess scored England’s fifth try of the afternoon, powering onto a reverse ball from in-form Williams.

Young completed his first-half hat-trick with five minutes to go, before scoring his fourth on the restart set. Williams then added his name to the scoresheet, supporting a break up the middle from Chris Hill.

HT: England 44-4 Greece

England scored with their first set of the second half, this time Makinson grounding a kick for a try.

Sneyd crossed for his first England try on 50 minutes, extending the lead to 56-4.

Burgess then made it a brace before Hall crossed for his second. St Helens’ Batchelor later scored a four-pointer on his England debut, later joined by Pearce-Paul on his first cap, while Andy Ackers scored two in-between. Mike McMeeken also scoring late on for a 94-4 victory.

FT: England 94-4 Greece

England: Makinson, Young, Pearce-Paul, Welsby, Hall, Sneyd, Williams, Cooper, Ackers, Lees, Batchelor, Bateman, Radley. Bench: Knowles, McMeeken, Burgess, Hill.

Tries: Lees, Young (4), Hall (2), Burgess (2), Williams, Makinson, Sneyd, Batchelor, Ackers (2), Pearce-Paul, McMeeken.

Goals: Sneyd 13

Greece: Taukamo, Mougious, Vrahnos, Constantinou, Mitsias, Ilias, Meads, Tuliatu, Mamouzelos, Rousoglou, Zampetides, Kambos, Flocas. Bench: Nake, Sell, Katsidonis, Nianiakas.

Tries: Taukamo.

Goals: Ilias 0

Attendance: 18,760

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Match report

HT: England 44-4 Greece

FT: England 94-4 Greece

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