England still lacking bite
JERMAINE McGillvary kept up his scoring form as England confirmed their World Cup quarterfinal place – even though his head was a mess.
The England winger admitted he was still upset at being accused of biting by Lebanon skipper Robbie Farah.
He was cleared at a hearing last Wednesday and responded with two tries to take his World Cup tally to four.
McGillvary said: “I was a bit rusty and my head was a bit rattled. It’s never nice to potentially have your World Cup in ruins. It’s something I’ve never experienced before.
“But justice has prevailed. It is done and dusted and I have moved on. I want to enjoy the tournament.”
The win confirmed England’s quarter-final tie with Papua New Guinea next Sunday but a huge question mark hangs over their killer instinct. For the second week running, Wayne Bennett’s side failed to build on a strong half-time lead and failed to find a ruthless streak.
McGillvary said: “We killed them in the first half but it’s that mentality thing again. It’s not right.
“If we want to win the World Cup, we just can’t have that attitude because the games are going to get tougher and tougher.” England played a new spine of Gareth Widdop at full-back, Kev Brown and Luke Gale in the halves and James Roby at hooker.
The plan worked superbly for long spells and Brown – making his World Cup debut – hopes he has done enough to keep his place.
The Warrington stand-off said: “I cherish every moment I get in this shirt because I know every time could be my last.
“I’m happy that I played and played OK.
“I’m mindful that we have some fantastic players in the squad and probably a couple of superstars returning next week.
“Fingers crossed I’ve given Wayne a headache at least. But I’ll have no regrets or hold no grudges if I’m not picked.”
England’s other tries came from Widdop, Stefan Ratchford, James Graham, Mark Percival and John Bateman. But there
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was a touch of deja vu for coach Bennett.
Leading 26-0 after 28 minutes in their final group game, England threatened to run riot but failed to press home their advantage.
It was a similar story to their display against Lebanon a week earlier, when they led 22-6 at half-time but scored only seven points after the break.
Bennett said: “We won the game. When they were good, they were good.
“It was the same as last week. The second half wasn’t as good as the first.”
Asked if he was concerned, he said: “Not yet. We may not have any more time to get it right but it’s not something that’s going to take a lot of research to get right. It’s going to take a lot of discipline and appreciation of what we did to get the 26 points in the first place. It can be fixed.” Bennett rotated to give the rest of his squad game time before the knockout stages. He hinted he is likely to revert to the team that began the tournament against Australia, with Sam Burgess almost certain to return from injury. “I pretty much know the team I want,” said Bennett, who is not yet looking ahead to a potential semi-final against Tonga, shock winners over New Zealand on Saturday to top their group. “My concern is us right now, getting through today with no injuries before we go on to play Papua New Guinea next week.”
ENGLAND – Goals: FRANCE – Try: Tries: Goal:
DAVE RYDING crashed out with gold in sight as his bid to become Britain’s first alpine skiing World Cup winner came to an end in Finland.
Ryding led at the halfway stage as he looked to go one better than the silver he won in January.
Having extended his lead to more than half a second midway down his second run, he missed a gate, which shattered his hopes of making history.