Match report
That’s it from me, but stay tuned for our match report. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your Sundays. Cheerio!
Full time: England 36-6 France
That’s your lot, and England are into the quarter-finals with a win that was never in doubt after that opening salvo. Wayne Bennett will still have plenty of concerns over that second-half performance, though.
Updated
79 mins: England have struggled to add points late in the game again here. When Bateman went over after half an hour, they led 26-0. Since then, they’ve edged the scoring by 10 points to six.
78 mins: Boudebza is held up just short of the line, so France retreat 10 metres. They knock on, and England have a scrum.
77 mins: Albert’s spinning kick towards Bergal, expertly struck with the outside of his boot, forces Ratchford to slap it volleyball-style into touch.
75 mins: George Williams makes a mistake in midfield, handing France a scrum. Without wanting to be too harsh, Australia won’t be too concerned by this second half from England. Thiabault Margalet has limped off for France.
73 mins: Burgess, back on for McGillvary, tries to bustle through the French defence, trying to make his mark after an indifferent performance. This game is rather petering out with England rotating players and losing their first-half fluency.
Updated
71 mins: France gain plenty of yards in their next set of six tackles, with a blistering run from Kheirallah forcing England to build from deep in their own half. They’ve looked a different side in the second half after that dreadful start.
Updated
68 mins: Ratchford runs out of space down the left, with Djalout throwing himself into tackles for the French. There’s a bit of afters from both sides, briefly raising the on-pitch temperature above lukewarm.
“Where do England stand in the scheme of things?” asks Phil Withall. “Wayne Bennett is a coaching legend but do they have enough quality to really make a mark in the competition? I’m not convinced that they can but hope that they do.”
The way the draw has panned out, England have a decent chance of making the final – whether the tournament is a success of failure may come down to the potential semi-final against Tonga.
66 mins: McGillvary is being withdrawn after an excellent performance, with two tries and 200m in carries. He was limping after a tackle moments ago, but that didn’t stop him scoring his second try – making it 10 in his last nine internationals.
Updated
TRY! England 36-6 France (McGillvary)
Jermaine McGillvary, who had just returned to the field after treatment, goes over for his second try as England catch France cold with a breakaway from that interception. Referee Phil Bennett calls for a review, and after much deliberation from the TMO, the try is given. Widdop misses another conversion, again tight to the touchline.
Updated
63 mins: France are keeping the England defence busy, passing the ball around nicely – but they play it a little too fast and loose, and Graham nips in to intercept...
60 mins: Another England attack falls apart metres from the try-line, with McMeeken at fault this time. It’s been a frustrating second half so far.
58 mins: More changes for England, with Gale back on and Roby going off. That means potential starting halves Gale, Brown, Widdop and George Williams are all on the field together.
57 mins: You’ve got to feel for Lucas Albert here. Benjamin Jullien intercepts the ball and offloads to the scrum-half, who races into open field, sprints 50 yards and touches down – before realising that the referee had blown up for a forward pass. Correct decision, but still.
56 mins: Tom Burgess and Scott Taylor are heading off, replaced by Graham and Hill. A French attack runs out of steam at halfway, and Albert’s kick through is collected by Ratchford.
53 mins: The impressive James Roby almost barrels his way over the line, before another grubber kick doesn’t quite come off for England. They seem to have eased off the attacking intensity a bit, which is perhaps understandable.
51 mins: England penalty, and Bateman takes a tap to keep the pressure on, but George Williams’ kick through is shepherded out by Kheirallah. Maxime Herold is back on for France, with Romain Navarette returning to the field.
Updated
49 mins: England get the ball back and surge downfield, McGillvary stepping in from the right wing and finding Brown – but Mike McMeeken’s pass towards Ratchford goes forward. The Castleford forward gets a bloody nose into the bargain after a late French tackle.
47 mins: An aimless spell of French possession is lit up by scrum-half Lucas Albert, their standout player so far, who dances through a few tackles before running out of options.
44 mins: England pile forward again but use up their six tackles, and Ratchford has nowhere to go, tight against the left touchline. All five of England’s starting backs have a try each now – Widdop, Ratchford, Percival, Bateman and McGillvary.
TRY! England 32-6 France (McGillvary)
England get an early scrum 20 metres out, and Roby sweeps the ball via Kevin Brown to Widdop, who finds McGillvary motoring out towards the right corner. The Huddersfield man goes over and England have a sixth try, which Widdop converts.
Updated
Peep!
We’re back under way...
I’m going to stick my neck out and say England will be finishing second in Pool A – which means a quarter-final against Papua New Guinea in Melbourne. It’ll be punishing for England players – the Kumuls have won their three pool games by an aggregate of 128-12 – and fans, with the game kicking off at 5am UK time next Sunday.
Updated
Half time: England 26-6 France
That’s half time. England started like a freight train, going 18-0 up after 10 minutes – but a couple of England mistakes have seen the deficit reduced. England are still cruising to the quarter-finals, but will want to maintain the standards set early on.
Updated
39 mins: Terrific line speed from England with the first half ticking down, and France are kept pinned within 30m of their own try line.
38 mins: More positive play from Djalout, with Brown and Percival required to hold him up. He offloads to Albert, who sends a low kick to touch. England scrum deep in their own half, but they deal with the danger.
36 mins: France, buoyed by that opportunistic score, move downfield again – but Widdop comfortably holds their kick, and England inch downfield. Ader tackles Percival smartly and they are forced to kick away.
Updated
TRY! England 26-6 France (Garcia)
Nabil Djalout, on as an interchange player, and Antoni Maria are held up – but Maria offloads to another Catalans player, Benjamin Garcia, who sidesteps a sleeping Tom Burgess to get France on the board! Albert converts.
Updated
32 mins: France labour 40 metres upfield in their set of six before kicking away – but McGillvary drops the catch, and France have a dangerous scrum. That will annoy Wayne Bennett, who is desperate to cut out sloppy mistakes.
Updated
30 mins: Hull FC’s Scott Taylor makes his World Cup bow, coming on to give Luke Gale a rest.
TRY! England 26-0 France (Bateman)
John Bateman gets on the scoresheet as Luke Gale feints to the open side, then switches play to the left, where Bateman rolls over despite the best efforts of Lucas Albert. Widdop misses the conversion from out on the left.
Updated
27 mins: Walmsley makes an impact, shrugging off French players clambering on him. Percival also bursts through the French defence and France are penalised a few metres from their own line...
25 mins: Tom Burgess is on for James Graham, with Alex Walmsley replacing Chris Hill. Two interchanges that won’t make things any easier for France.
TRY! England 22-0 France (Percival)
An attempted kick through ricochets back into England hands and the ball is immediately moved across the field, with Widdop, Gale and Brown all picking the right pass as France are carved open. Mark Percival is waiting on the right flank, and runs it in for a try on his World Cup debut. Widdop just misses the conversion, but I doubt it’ll matter.
Updated
20 mins: Fouad Yaha collects a long kick, before Widdop does the same from a French clearance. It feels like a home game for England here, with nearly 15,000 fans and plenty of white shirts among them.
18 mins: James Graham spills the ball and France have a scrum deep in England territory – but Julian Bousquet drops the ball! France have been, in a word, rubbish.
16 mins: France pick up a penalty on the halfway line and kick to the corner. Can they make a dent in England’s lead? Baitieri is back on, and after another penalty they push to within 10 metres. Mark Kheirallah is repelled by the defence, before Albert’s desperate grubber kick is collected by John Bateman.
14 mins: France doing a better job of containing England in midfield just now – they’ve missed 13 tackles already. Gale tries to open things up with a kick towards the corner that drifts into touch.
12 mins: France get their first set since that knock-on 10 minutes ago. They progress to halfway but have to kick downfield, and Jermaine McGillvary launches a ferocious run through midfield. Brown’s cute diagonal pass has him on the run again, but he can’t quite latch onto it in the right corner.
TRY! England 18-0 France (Graham)
It falls to Gale, who tees up James Graham, and the Canterbury man powers over the line. France can’t do anything about this – England are rampant. Widdop adds a third conversion.
Updated
8 mins: Percival tees up McGillvary, who bursts through a tackle down the right. It’s moved infield but the ball is spilled, and Brown does well to hook it back into England’s grasp...
England need a strong win, PNG will be much tougher
— Kieho Várzea Ma'a (@topes_lose) November 12, 2017
They’re certainly off to a good start, although France have offered very little resistance.
TRY! England 12-0 France (Ratchford)
The TMO confirms Ratchford grounded the ball, and Widdop converts from a tight angle. A flying start from England!
Updated
5 mins: England get a scrum from a loose ball as they press for a second try. The ball is swept right, then left with James Roby switching the play, and Stefan Ratchford steps past Illias Bergal’s sliding challenge. A review, but it looks like a second score...
Updated
An early impact from Kevin Brown, who’s competing for a spot alongside Luke Gale, with Jonny Lomax facing a fitness battle. Here’s Aaron Bower on the Warrington man making a late World Cup bow:
TRY! England 6-0 France (Widdop)
France are outnumbered down that left flank, and Gareth Widdop, playing at full-back today, canters between two markers for the first score. He gets up to convert it himself.
Updated
2 mins: A clanger of a knock-on from France gifts possession to England, and World Cup debutant Kevin Brown opens up the left-hand side with a pass to Gale...
1 min: An early stoppage as Jason Baitieri is left dazed by an early collision with Mike McMeeken. He will have to go off for an assessment, with Mickael Rouch coming on.
Updated
5, 4, 3, 2, 1...
After an on-screen countdown, France kick off, playing right to left.
The players are heading out, France in a typically elegant tricolore chevron number. Here’s what England head coach Wayne Bennett had to say before the match:
“We need to play better than we did last week. I want to give everyone an opportunity to play before we get to the quarter-finals. I’ll pick my best team, starting next week. Our Achilles heel is making poor decisions at key stages, if we want to be the best we have to cut those out.”
Earlier today, Ireland beat Wales 34-6 in Group C, but Papua New Guinea’s 64-0 shoeing of the United States means they miss out on the quarter-finals. This is the last pool match – here’s how the quarter-finals look as it stands.
Australia v Samoa (Darwin)
New Zealand v Fiji (Wellington)
Tonga v 3rd in Pool A (Christchurch)
2nd in Pool A v Papua New Guinea (Melbourne)
Updated
Stefan Ratchford is looking in good nick in the warm-up. Ten minutes until kick-off. The crowd looks healthy, after a disappointing turnout in Sydney for England’s last game against Lebanon.
#ENGvFRA #RLWC2017
— England Rugby League (@England_RL) November 12, 2017
Nice take @ratch06 🙌
He starts on the wing this afternoon pic.twitter.com/8epfbIzYSJ
Preamble
England’s World Cup campaign so far has been good, but not great – they played well in defeat to red-hot favourites Australia, and then muddled past unknown quantities Lebanon. They now need to finish the job in Group A with a win over a French side that have lost both their matches.
Tonga’s surprise win over New Zealand should give Wayne Bennett’s side some extra motivation – it means that for the first time since 1995, the final cannot pit Kangaroos against Kiwis. It also leaves England on course to meet the exciting Tongan team in the semi-finals.
First things first, and a France side that will feel familiar, with eight Catalans players among the 17, in Perth. It’s been a predictably hot day in Western Australia, and temperatures will still be around 25 degrees for this evening kick-off.
Mark Percival, 33-year-old newcomer Kevin Brown and Mike McMeeken come into the team as Ryan Hall, Kallum Watkins and Elliott Whitehead are rested, while Jermaine McGillvary is in the team after being cleared of biting against Lebanon.
Kick-off is at 10am GMT, 8pm local. Wherever you are in the world, get in touch with your pre-match predictions.
The teams
England: G Widdop; S Ratchford, M Percival, J Bateman, J McGillvary; K Brown, L Gale; C Hill, J Roby, J Graham, B Currie, M McMeeken, S O’Loughlin.
Interchange: A Walmsley, T Burgess, S Taylor, G Williams.
France: M Kheirallah; F Yaha, B Ader, B Jullien, I Bergal; T Fages, L Albert; M Herold, J Boudebza, A Maria, B Garcia , J Bousquet, J Baitieri.
Interchange: T Margalet, R Navarrete, M Rouch, N Djalout.
