| England (66) 121 |
| Tries: Coyd 4, Bechara 2, Halliwell 2, Simpson 4, Brown 3, Collins 3, King, Rigby 2 Goals: Coyd 4, Collins 8, Roberts 6 Drop Goal: Roberts |
| Ireland (0) 0 |
England finished their Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup Group A campaign with a dominant 21-try victory over Ireland.
England, ranked second in the world behind France, had already secured a semi-final spot thanks to easy wins over Australia and Spain.
And they were in devastating form against the Irish with four tries apiece for player of the match Joe Coyd and James Simpson.
There were also hat-tricks for Jack Brown and Nathan Collins.
England were in control from the start with Seb Bechara and Coyd scoring early tries – and they were 32-0 up after the first quarter.
Ireland tried to tighten up in the second half, but England were far too strong and coach Tom Coyd, the elder brother of Joe, was able to give all of his players key game time ahead of the knockout stages.
It also allowed England’s Dec Roberts the chance to play against his father Phil, who is part of the Ireland team.
England will find out their semi-final opponents on Thursday when Group B concludes with the United States, Wales and Scotland all still in contention.
Earlier, in the same group Australia secured a last four spot against holders France after a 52-32 success over Spain.
Both Australia and Spain knew a win would secure a spot in the last four.
The Wheelaroos took an early lead through Peter Arbuckle and never trailed with James Hill scoring four of their nine tries and Diab Karim two, while Brad Grove and Corey Cannane also crossed.
There were three goals apiece for Karim and Bayley McKenna, and Corey’s father Craig added two late goals.
Theo Gonzalez and Raphael Mondero scored two tries each for Spain.
“That was the type of game that we actually needed as a collective group,” said Australia coach Brett Clark.
“We did use the full roster that we had. That was on purpose to try to give the guys the opportunity to play in these type of games. This is a level up from the last game and each game has been that way.
“These are the games that we need, regardless of the score-line, regardless if we win by 20 points, or we win by two points.”
