England produced a fitting second-half performance to pay tribute to Steve Prescott, one of rugby league‘s most inspiring figures, on the day the 39-year‑old former Hull FC and St Helens full‑back succumbed to pseudomyxoma peritonei, a rare form of stomach cancer.
Prescott, a former England and Ireland full-back who raised almost £500,000 for charity after being diagnosed in September 2006, was awarded an MBE in 2010. If St Helens was home, Hull was his adopted city after two successful stints with the Black and Whites.
A sell-out crowd of 25,114 paid their own tribute when a minute’s silence spontaneously erupted into applause before the kick-off, and while it took the best part of 35 minutes, England came good on the promise made by their coach, Steve McNamara, that they were on the verge of some really big performances.
For half an hour they stuttered and stumbled against a ferociously committed Fiji who were high on enterprise and energy, but six tries in 18 minutes started with Ben Westwood’s close-range effort just before half-time. The tries continued in the second half through Sam Burgess, Brett Ferres, Rob Burrow and Ryan Hall’s two. The result booked England’s place in a quarter-final showdown against France or Samoa at Wigan next Saturday night.
“Steve was a really close friend and we all talk about the feats he’s achieved, but I’d also like to remember him as a fantastic rugby league player. It’s a really sad loss,” McNamara said.
“We spoke about it before and we had to do that because there were a lot of people really attached to Steve. He presented our shirts before the mid-season game against the Exiles, and he wasn’t in great shape then – he’d been told he couldn’t eat or drink again – but he did a speech to the players that still rings true now about how your body will do what your mind will tell it to do. To do what he did was pretty superhuman and a very strong message to the group.”
If England are to make good on Prescott’s inspiration and win the Rugby League World Cup, they will need to be as direct as they were during the third quarter, when Rangi Chase, Kevin Sinfield and Burrow attacked with precision after a series of punishing runs from their sizeable pack. McNamara’s men got the job done but doubts remain that they are sharp enough to break down Australia and New Zealand, the holders.
“It was a proper Test match and we always knew it would be,” McNamara said. “It was very tough and we had to defend very strongly, and it was exactly the test we needed. It will bode well for us in the quarter-finals.”
Sam Burgess said: “We did not play to our strengths in the first half. It was a great team effort [in the second half] and I’m very happy for the team.”
Fiji had enough about them to withstand everything England threw at them during a full-blooded opening. Worse still, Eloni Vunakece briefly had the underdogs in front after latching on to Tariq Sims’s short pass.
During that first quarter England lacked fluency and direction, with Chase and Sinfield failing to click into gear despite their undoubted efforts. It took Korbin Sims’s dangerous tackle on James Graham to spark the hosts into life but man-of-the-match Sam Burgess spilled the ball on the next play as he went to score under the posts.
At the other end only a controversial video referee decision from Shayne Hayne denied Fiji the first score but they did not have to wait much longer. Tariq Sims burst past Burrow’s inside shoulder and Vunakece’s finish had a small but vocal group of Fiji supporters dancing in the stands.
Their lead did not last long, with Westwood finishing from Sinfield’s turn and offload to level the scores, and England struck gold after the break. Sam Burgess gathered Sinfield’s bouncing kick-off, then crashed past five defenders to score after 24 seconds.
By the time Fiji next had possession, England had already increased their lead when Ferres latched on to Chase’s delayed pass. Hall then produced the kind of outstanding finish that has become his trademark, squeezing down the left touchline and shrugging off two challengers to slam the ball down in the corner.
Four minutes later Burrow, a Leeds team-mate of Hall, bounced over from George Burgess’s pass before Hall struck again when Sinfield, Chase and Tomkins combined to present him with the easiest of chances.
Semi Radradra claimed a late consolation for Fiji, but England’s biggest worry would appear to be over Westwood’s availability after he was placed on report by Ben Cummins late on.
“They had some good shape and we helped them along but that’s a learning curve for us,” said Rick Stone, the Fiji coach. “England were really good for 20 minutes and they made us pay.”
Article source: http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/womensrugby/newsid=2068571.html
England made to wait for victory by Fiji in Rugby League World Cup
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