Rugby League World Cup: England send sparks flying in Samoa victory

Before hosting their World Cup opener, England's expectations may have been subdued, but a rampant victory over Samoa has now increased their chances.

Wane's side scored 10 tries in a row to get their tournament off to a great start.

The match was England's to lose. Nobody expected a home win by such a large margin.

By the end, Wane, his players and supporters were purring at how far the England team could go.

Wane, flanked by the nation's newest star Dominic Young and skipper Sam Tomkins, revelled in a victory which came on the back of negative media coverage.

Wane said that they liked the negative vibes. It's up to them to comment about us. I knew it was not a good thing.

Nobody gave us a chance to win the game, but we knew what we could do.

'It was intense pressure from us'

Wane has taken charge of the team five times since he was appointed in February 2020.

The camaraderie and togetherness instilled within the side is clear to see and even the hard taskmaster was left happy after seeing the show.

The England players held firm arm-in-arm and looked their opponents in the eyes as they watched the spine-tingling performance of the Samoans.

The comradeship was summed up in an exchange between the boss, skipper Tomkins and Young after the match.

"We did some really good things and I have to know these players well over the last two years," said Wane. I know what these guys are capable of.

I am happy but we can improve.

Young said, "I agree", before Wane replied "good lad", while Tomkins said he was hoping the review would be positive.

Wane smiled as he looked over to Tomkins with a smile.

England's brilliance and dominance saw them score six tries in the final 16 minutes of the game.

Wane was asked if he thought Samoa had given up. We were patient and Discipline was good.

They did not down tools.

With their hardest group game out of the way, England come up against France inBolton next week, where the players who did not feature inNewcastle will get a chance to impress, before rounding off against Greece inSheffield.

Organisers apologise for opening hitch

The opening ceremony to the tournament started with a major hitch as a loss of power to the audio system inside St James' Park meant Kaiser Chiefs could only perform one song.

The delayed kick-off was a huge embarrassment. The crowd started a wave to amuse themselves.

The half-time apology was issued by the organizers, who said they were sorry for the disruption.

England lit up the World Cup with sparks flying on the pitch after losing power.

The 43,200 crowd was not a sell-out but was still the biggest single game attendance for a World Cup opener in the northern hemisphere and the highest grossing gate for a single game in this country at a World Cup.

There was a party atmosphere in the stadium towards the end of the game as people in attendance were subdued at the beginning.

Tomkins said that today was the biggest support he's had in England. Fans were screaming for England.

It was so loud when we scored a try. It felt like you were playing in front of a big crowd today.

As expected, talk was already turning to how far England can go following this dominant showing, but Wane was quick to downplay any conversations about an appearance in the final at Old Manchester.

He said the spirit is fantastic. I don't have to tell them to calm down. I buy into what they buy.