RUGBY LEAGUE Four Nations WAYNE’S ON A WARPATH
Coach Bennett blasts complacent’ England
ENGLAND coach Wayne Bennett said his players “need to have a good look at themselves” after they stuttered past Scotland.
England were staring down the barrel of their worst defeat since the 2013 World Cup warmup loss to Italy when they trailed 8- 0 after 27 minutes at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.
And although they improved after the break to finish with seven tries in total, this was far from the emphatic win that most had anticipated against the hardworking Scots.
England now head into a must-win game with Australia in London next Sunday needing a marked improvement to beat the Kangaroos.
There were bright spots in the performance, with Elliott Whitehead scoring a first- half brace and George Williams producing a man- of- the- match performance on his return to the side. But it was not enough to appease Bennett. He complained: “There wasn’t much to enjoy.
“We didn’t want to start that way and put ourselves under that kind of pressure. For 20-25 minutes they went well and then went back to their old ways. Compare this week to last against New Zealand – there was no comparison.
“The players need to look at their own performances and how they played. We played like there was plenty of complacency.”
Scotland had most of their early success down the left-hand side, with Lachlan Coote providing the final pass for both of their early tries, first picking out North Queensland clubmate Kane Linnett
to power over.
Woeful
Next time he missed out the centre and found Matty Russell, who produced an astonishing finish in the corner, somehow grounding the ball above his head despite most of his body being in mid-air over the touchline. England’s handling had been woeful at that point but they finally found some fluidity to score twice before the break. Luke Gale and Whitehead combined for both, with first a pass and then a kick putting the second rower over in the same spot. Two Gale conversions edged the home side 12-8 in front at half-time – and the third quarter was a different story.
Aided by Daryl Clark’s emergence off the bench, which quickened England’s play, Bennett’s side also finally managed to get the ball wide.
Williams drifted across the line and picked out Mark Percival to score, before kicking perfectly for Ryan Hall to score his 30th try in as many international games.
Danny Brough was then sinbinned for holding down Jonny Lomax, who quickly put Jermaine McGillvary over in the right corner.
When Gale supported a Sam Burgess break to touch down and convert, England had built a 32-8 advantage.
And although Dale Ferguson responded, Bennett’s side had the final say when Liam Farrell touched down after the hooter sounded.
Scotland coach Steve McCormack said: “In the first half we tested them and played some outstanding stuff with the ball.” ENGLAND – Tries: Whitehead 2, Percival, Hall, McGillvary, Gale, Farrell; Goals: Gale 5. SCOTLAND – Tries: Linnett, Russell, Ferguson.