Dom Young equalled the record for most tries in a Test by an Englishman as the host nation overcame the first half loss of Victor Radley to post their biggest World Cup win against Greece.
Young scored four tries before half time to rocket to the top of the World Cup tryscoring list, with eight tries in three Tests, and the 21-year-old Knights rookie is expected to secure a place in England's top side for the sudden death matches.
However, there was concern for Radley, who came from the field in the 27th minute with an elbow injury and was clutching his arm after fulltime.
England crossed for 17 tries to rack up a 94-4 win, with 11 different players scoring.
Among them was man-of-the-match Marc Sneyd, whose 30 points haul from 13 goals and a try was another England World Cup record.
Ryan Hall, Tom Burgess and Andy Ackers each crossed for two tries.
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Match snapshot
- The signs appeared ominous for Greece when England forward Matt Lees crossed for the opening try in just the fourth minute after being put through a gap by halfback Marc Sneyd.
- Young's first try came in the 14th minute after fullback Jack Welsby combined with John Bateman, who threw a basketball-type pass for the Knights winger.
- However, Rabbitohs playmaker Lachlan Ilias kept Greece in the game by forcing back-to-back repeat sets and rookie Sharks fullback Siteni Taukamo scored in the 17th minute after pulling in a pass from skipper Jordan Meads.
Four tries for sensational Young
- Former Raiders halfback George Williams, who was captaining the England team in the absence of Sam Tomkins, put Young over for his second try in the 25th minute.
- Not to be outdone, veteran winger Ryan Hall won the race for a deep Sneyd kick to score in two minutes later.
- Young then completed his hat-trick in the 34th minute and equalled England's try scoring record with his fourth try just two minutes later.
- A Williams try on the last play of the first half saw England go to the interval with a 44-4 halftime lead.
- The second half started as the first had finished with 2018 Golden Boot winner Tommy Makinson scoring in the 41st minute.
- Sneyd, Tom Burgess, Hall, debutant Joe Batchelor, hooker Andy Ackers (two), Kai Pearce-Paul and Mike McMeekan were the other try scorers.
Play of the game
While Young only had to catch the ball and run for some of his tries, he had plenty of work to do for his third try in the 35th minute.
What they said
“The last three weeks have been hard, with game time for everybody. Everybody has put their hands up and played. Next week it’ll be 17 players who can get us a win in the quarter-finals. Today was a really good win. The wingers are strong, but I will pick the two who can get us a win over quarter-finals. Dom is playing really well. He trains well and is very quiet off the field. But when he turns up to games, he knows how to score and carry a few yardage. He’s a talent, there’s no doubt about it. He can score and is very skilful," - England coach Shaun Wane.
"I am proud, happy, emotional, we got through the tournament. I don't think you get to walk around the field after being beaten by 90 points and the crowd shout the name of your country Greece. It shows the effort the team has put in. Those domestic players can go back home and can say I represented my country at rugby league," - Greece coach Steve Georgallis.
What's next
England have finished top of the Pool A and will play at Wigan next Saturday against the second placed team in Pool D, which is expected to be Papua New Guinea unless the Kumuls lose their final group match to Wales.
For Greece, their World Cup is over and they will now seek to win a berth at France 2025, with the qualifying process beginning next year with matches against Norway and Ukraine.
The match against Ukraine will be the first played in Greece since the sport was officially recognised.