England beat France 82-0 in Perth in a Rugby World Cup 13 match, keeping their hopes of reaching the final alive. England led 36-0 at half-time and scored a total of 14 tries.
Tries for England were scored by Farnworth 3, Young 3, Lewis 2, Ashton, Williams, Radley, Litten, Welsby and Brimson. Savala converted 13 goals. Herbie Farnworth and Dom Young each scored a hat-trick, while George Williams set up Young for a corner try after 23 minutes. AJ Brimson led a counter-attack before finding Matty Ashton, while Harry Smith set up Farnworth for his first try in the 27th minute.
Farnworth scored again nine minutes later, and Williams broke under the posts for 30-0. Young returned the favour to Farnworth for his third try just before the break. Eight minutes after the break, Young chased down a grubber kick to bring the score to 40 points. Jez Litten and Williams broke through a tired defence, and Victor Radley scored unopposed. Litten scored after England repelled another French siege.
Another Brimson break enabled the tenth try, which was scored by Mikey Lewis. A poorly executed short kick-off was caught by Young who ran in for his hat-trick. Jack Welsby scored the 12th try, and the 13th was scored by Lewis breaking through two weak starts. England surpassed Samoa and their 74-point victory over France, and reached 80 with a Brimson try.
Hugo Savala missed only one goal from 14 attempts, adding 26 points. England made six errors in the first 20 minutes. France have not reached the semi-finals since 1992.
Samoa had earlier crushed Papua New Guinea 62-6. England were 150 points behind the Samoans in the points difference. England must beat Papua New Guinea in Wollongong on Friday, and Tonga must beat Samoa on Sunday for England to reach the semi-finals. AJ Brimson was named player of the match.
