I certainly feel very sorry for anyone who chose to have an extended half-time coffee break at the KC Stadium on Saturday.
Anyone who did would have missed England’s best spell of rugby in the tournament so far as Fiji’s previously robust defence crumbled in front of a jubilant Hull crowd.
I was at the game and certainly feared the worst at half time. We were nowhere near incisive enough and none of the three-quarter line seemed willing to just put their head down and run.
Tom Briscoe was a particular culprit playing on his home ground. He seemed extremely hesitant with the ball and always decided to cut back infield rather than try to power down the line.
Michael McIlorum started at hooker and did ok by all accounts, but the game changed when Rob Burrow took his place.
The diminutive Leeds Rhinos man was a revelation and gave England the crucial ruck speed they needed to unlock a determined but tiring Fiji rearguard.
Six tries in the first eighteen minutes of the second half sealed second place in Group A for England, with Burrow capping off his own sterling performance with the game’s best try, finishing off after excellent work by Chris Hill and George Burgess.
Burrow’s wasn’t the only outstanding individual performance for England; Sam Burgess showed exactly why he is the world’s best forward.
Returning from suspension to start in the front row alongside James Graham, he was denied a try in the first half by a desperate last-ditch tackle from Ashton Sims, but his try seconds after the interval was vintage “Slammin”.
Despite the attention of four Fiji players, he crashed over to kick-start the England surge and his devastating ball carrying meant he was a constant menace to Fiji.
I also thought Salford-bound half-back Rangi Chase put in by far his best performance in an England shirt.
There can be no doubt about his talent, but he hasn’t yet consistently showed it for England. Saturday was a different story however as he showed why he is one of Super League’s hottest properties.
He moved the ball with pace and precision and he seemed to get every pass just right, illustrated by a superb delayed pass to set up a try for Brett Ferres.
England are definitely improving and if they can maintain the level of performance they showed in the second half on Saturday, they have a very realistic chance of winning this World Cup, but first they must concentrate on next week’s quarter final tie in Wigan.
Another game I witnessed this weekend was Sunday’s clash between Tonga and Italy in Halifax.
It was a pretty poor game, with Tonga winning 16-0 to dump their opponents out of the tournament and send Scotland through to face New Zealand.
I must say I was extremely disappointed with the performance of the Italians. After impressing in their last two games I really did expect more from them, especially with a quarter-final berth at stake.
However, they were toothless in attack and they were often frustrated by handling errors when they got close to the Tongan line.
The clean sheet didn’t flatter the already-eliminated Tonga whatsoever as Italy never looked like scoring.
Whilst on the subject of performances, Sonny Bill Williams’ for New Zealand on Friday night was a joy to behold.
After an embarrassing try gaffe in his previous game against Samoa, where he slipped over the dead ball line whilst putting the ball down for a try, his performance against Papa New Guinea in Leeds was Sonny Bill at his best.
Australia enjoyed a routine win over a disappointing Ireland side, sweeping them aside 50-0 as they look to step up their level of performance in time for the quarters.
By tomorrow, we will know the quarter-final line-up and with all the big guns starting to fire at full power, an already enthralling tournament is set to get better and better.
Image courtesy of BBC via Youtube, with thanks.
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