Rugby League World Cup: England send sparks flying in Samoa victory

England's expectations may have been subdued before hosting their World Cup opener but a rampant victory over Samoa has now heightened their prospects.

Shaun Wane's side demolished the Polynesian islanders with a 10-try 60-6 mauling to get their tournament off to the perfect start.

England started the match as underdogs. Certainly, nobody was expecting a home win by such a sizeable scoreline.

But by the end, boss Wane, his players and supporters were left purring at how far this England team can go on home soil.

Ex-Wigan boss Wane - flanked by the nation's newest star Dominic Young and skipper Sam Tomkins - revelled in a victory which came on the back of what he perceived as "negative" media coverage.

"We enjoyed the negativity to be honest," said Wane. "Whatever people comment about us it is up to them. I knew it was quite negative about us.

"Nobody gave us a chance to win the game but there is team spirit in our group and we knew what we can do."

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'It was intense pressure from us'

The Covid-19 pandemic meant the tournament was pushed back by a year and this was just the fifth time Wane had taken charge of the team since being appointed in February 2020.

But the camaraderie and togetherness instilled within the side is clear to see and even the hard taskmaster was left beaming at full-time after a stunning showing.

Samoa had looked to set the tone with a spine-tingling performance of their Siva Tau war cry, advancing into the faces of the England players, who held firm arm-in-arm and looked their opponents in the eyes.

And the comradeship was perfectly summed up in an exchange between the boss, skipper Tomkins and new winger Young in the post-match news conference.

"Without sounding arrogant, we did some really good things and I have got to know these players really well over the last two years," said Wane. "All respect to Samoa, but I know what these lads can do.

"I am really happy but we can improve, without any shadow of a doubt in my mind."

Young said, "I agree," before Wane turned to him and replied "good lad", while Tomkins added: "We did plenty of good things and I am hoping the review will be positive."

It prompted Wane to look over to Tomkins with a grin on his face.

England's brilliance and dominance saw them score six tries in the final 16 minutes as Samoa totally capitulated following the sin-binning of Anthony Milford.

Asked if he felt Samoa had given up, Wane said: "I thought we earned it. It was intense pressure from us and we were patient and our discipline was good.

"It was a lot of things, they did not down tools."

With their hardest group game out of the way, England come up against France in Bolton next week - where the players who did not feature in Newcastle will get a run out - before rounding off against debutants Greece in Sheffield.

Organisers apologise for opening hitch

The opening ceremony to the tournament started with a major hitch as a loss of power to the audio system inside St James' Park meant headline act Kaiser Chiefs could only perform one song, while artistic performers had to dance without any music accompanying them.

The setback was hugely embarrassing and delayed kick-off by 10 minutes. The confusion prompted the crowd to start a Mexican wave to keep themselves entertained.

Organisers issued a statement at half-time in which they "sincerely" apologised for the disruption following a "technical failure".

Power may have been lost off the pitch, but England sent sparks flying on it to ignite their World Cup charge.

The 43,200 crowd was not a sell-out but was still the biggest single game attendance for a World Cup opener in the northern hemisphere and the highest grossing gate for a individual group game in this country at a World Cup.

Those in attendance were subdued at the start but were raucous once the tries started flowing and there was a party atmosphere in the stadium towards the end of the game.

"Today was by far the biggest support I've felt in England," said Tomkins. "It felt like an occasion and fans screaming for England.

"You could hear it every time we scored a try and it was electric. As players you want to play in front of big occasions and it felt like that today."

As expected, talk was already turning to how far England can go following this dominant showing, but Wane was quick to dampen any conversations about an appearance in the final at Old Trafford on 19 November.

"The spirit - I genuinely mean it - is fantastic," he said. "I know for a fact I don't have to manage them and tell them to calm down. They buy into what I want to do and I buy into them."

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