England romp to victory
Winger Ryan Hall grabbed four tries as England cruised to an impressive, if predictable, 48-4 victory over France in the final of the autumn international series at the Salford City Stadium.
England ran in eight tries and skipper Kevin Sinfield kicked all eight conversions as they took their points tally to 172 in their three matches to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Great Britain's last World Cup triumph.
They were leading 48-0 until winger Mathias Pala scored a last-minute consolation try for the French to provide a minor irritation for England coach Steve McNamara on his side's last full international before the 2013 World Cup next October.
The kick-off was delayed because of the televised tennis but England quickly made up the time, Hall opening the scoring after eight minutes with his first try, which was the 150th of his career, courtesy of Sam Tomkins' floated pass.
Sinfield and Rangi Chase combined to get Tomkins dummying his way over on 24 minutes and enabled Sean O'Loughlin to work Hall over for his second thanks to another cut-out pass that exposed the defensive weaknesses in the French threequarter line.
The hosts lost veteran prop Adrian Morley within 90 seconds of the re-start, following a clash of heads with team-mate Gareth Ellis, but they found an extra gear in the second half.
Ellis' long pass enabled right winger Josh Charnley to go over for his fifth try in just two appearances while Chase's cut-out pass got Hall over for his hat-trick on 46 minutes.
Tomkins then provided another demonstration of his clinical finishing to claim his second try before working Hall over for his fourth in glorious fashion. Chase began the length-of-the-field move by collecting Thomas Bosc's grubber kick on his own line and Tomkins supported him before supplying the final pass to the Leeds ace winger.
The monopoly of scoring by England's outside backs was finally ended when replacement hooker Rob Burrow took Ellis' smart offload to scoot 40 metres to the line and Sinfield maintained his 100% record with his eighth goal, taking his points tally for the series to 56.
The French were well beaten but they at least had the final say when Pala pounced on a loose ball over the England tryline to prevent a whitewash.
