Ruthless England overwhelm Greece as Dom Young bags four in 17-try rout

England ran up a series of records as they defeated a helpless Greece side to not only secure top spot in Group A at the Rugby League World Cup, but register their biggest win in the tournament. The debuting Greeks had only pride to play for after defeat in their first two games and they caused England a minor scare in the opening quarter when Siteni Taukamo’s try made it 10-4 in England’s favour.

But that stirred the hosts into life. The final hour was as one-sided a game as you are likely to see with England ruthlessly dispatching Greece, finishing with 17 tries. England’s third win in three group games, scoring 196 points, means they are assured of top spot, and will probably face Papua New Guinea in the quarter-finals next Saturday in Wigan.

Ten England players had scored four tries in a Test before this one-sided contest and Dom Young became the 11th before half-time here. That took his tally for the tournament to eight in three games, with the Newcastle Knights winger continuing to enhance his reputation as one of the competition’s standout talents.

England were ahead within three minutes as Matty Lees cut through the defence, before a clever pass from John Bateman gave Young his first. Greece then stunned everyone when Taukamo spotted a gap in the England defence to narrow the arrears: but that was as good as their afternoon got. From there, they were punished in devastating fashion.

England scored six more times in a blistering 20-minute spell before half-time, with three of them going to Young. Ryan Hall, Tom Burgess and George Williams were the other scorers, with Marc Sneyd converting six of the eight tries to make it 44-6 at the break.

It was then essentially how many points – and records – England could rack