England ease past France

New England head coach Wayne Bennett got off a winning start after seeing his side cruise to a 40-6 victory against France at the Parc des Sports.

Ryan Hall thought he had given England an early lead inside ten minutes after crossing over in the corner, but video referee Robert Hicks overruled Phil Bentham’s on-field decision to award the try.

After some stern defence from the French, Eloi Pelissier crossed over out of dummy half just three minutes after coming on.

Tony Gigot nailed the conversion to give the home side a 6-0 lead.

Hall scored England’s first try just before half-hour mark, collecting Jonny Lomax’s pass before diving across. Gareth Widdop successfully converted to level the scores.

Three minutes later and Daryl Clark showed quick thinking to score a four-pointer under the sticks out of dummy half.

England started to assert their dominance on the scoreboard, Tom Burgess taking Clark’s pass before barging past Kevin Larroyer and grounding the ball.

Hall went across for his second try of the night after a raking pass from Widdop out to the wing.

Benjamin Garcia looked certain to reduce the deficit for the French but knocked on a metre from the try line.

England’s first try of the second half came courtesy of Kevin Brown in the 68th minute. Widdop added the extras to give the visitors a 28-6 lead.

Ten mintues before the end and France were down to 12 men after Pelissier’s late challenge on James Graham.

Jermaine McGillvary dashed over in the corner late on to add his name to the scoresheet.

England continued to be ruthless in attack, Widdop catching Brown’s kick before racing over for the final score.