England hit 82 points against France to keep World Cup semi-final hopes alive

England scored 82 points against France on Saturday, winning by 14 tries and keeping their hopes of reaching the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals alive. The Guardian reported the result from Perth, where the match was played at HBF Park.

The game kicked off at 7:35am, and it was shown live on Premier Sports 1 in the UK. England had the match in hand early. They led France 34-0 at half-time, the break at the midpoint of the game.

Much of that lead came from two players. Herbie Farnworth scored a hat-trick, which means three tries by one player, inside the first 13 minutes. Dom Young also finished with a hat-trick, and he scored the opening try of the match.

A try is the main way to score in both rugby codes. It is made by grounding the ball over the opposition's try line, the line at each end of the pitch. Fourteen of them in one game is a heavy workload for any defence, and France were left chasing the ball for long spells.

The win comes after a rocky start. England lost their opening match 30-12 to Tonga, as BBC Sport reported. Reuters noted that it was Tonga's first win over England in seven attempts. A defeat in the first match can make a tournament hard to recover from, and England had to win big to stay in contention.

England's coach is Brian McDermott. His side now has to hold its nerve in the games that decide who goes through. The tournament's other results on Saturday also mattered. Earlier in the day, Samoa beat Papua New Guinea, another result that adds to the picture of who is still in the race.

For neutral fans, the scoreline is hard to ignore. Rugby league is often described as a game of field position and possession, where teams have six tackles to make ground before handing the ball over. England spent much of this match making the most of their chances, and France could not keep pace with them.