A try and 13 goals saw Marc Sneyd set an individual record for an England player at a World Cup with 30 points as the host nation trounced Greece; the Salford Red Devils half-back was named player of the match as well
Saturday 29 October 2022 19:31, UK
Marc Sneyd hopes he has done enough to force his way into Shaun Wane's Rugby League World Cup quarter-final plans after a record-breaking performance in England 94-4 win over Greece.
The Salford Red Devils half-back scored a try and kicked 13 goals for an individual haul of 30 points as he was named player of the match, eclipsing the previous best mark of 22 for Andy Farrell against Fiji in 2000 for the most points scored by an England player in a World Cup game.
Having seen Jack Welsby preferred to partner George Williams in the halves for the opening 60-6 win over Samoa, Sneyd was named alongside the Warrington Wolves man for the 42-18 win over France and Saturday's rout at Bramall Lane and is understandably keen to continue that partnership in the knock-out stages.
"I'd hope so, but all I can do is do my best on the field and in training, and in and around the place," Sneyd said.
"We'll just see what happens - it's one of those, isn't it?
"Any form of individual record is always nice to get, so I'll take it."
Head coach Wane admitted it was difficult to draw much from the resounding win over World Cup debutants Greece, with England having gone into the game as heavy odds-on favourites.
The 58-year-old praised the way the Greeks stuck to their task in spite of conceding 17 tries and believes the outcome will serve as a confidence boost for England ahead of the quarter-finals.
"I thought we did a lot of good things," Wane said. "Some of the skills we displayed were superb.
"Credit to them, they never gave in and I thought they were trying right until the end, but it was a very tough one for us today to gain any positive thoughts on it.
"If we win easy, then we should have won easy, but if they'd have pushed us close, we'd have got hammered.
"It was one of those we just had to win, and we go into next week's game with some confidence."
England will likely face Papua New Guinea at Wigan's DW Stadium next Saturday as part of a double-header which also sees England's women taking on Canada in their second World Cup group match.
Having seen his side top Group A with three wins from three, Wane is now relishing the knock-out stages.
"It's sudden-death and we're going to train hard and [study] lots of video," Wane said. "It's game on - these are the weeks I like when it's pressure and we have to win."
Greece head coach Steve Georgallis was full of praise for his team as their first World Cup campaign came to end with a heavy defeat against the host nation.
Although they lost all three of their matches in Group A, just reaching the tournament has been an achievement for the team due to rugby league being illegal in the country up until this summer.
Siteni Taukamo's first-half try did at least give Greece something to cheer about in Sheffield and Georgallis was overwhelmed by the crowd chanting the team's name as they walked around the pitch at full-time.
"I think that just goes to show the effort the players put in every week and for the first 20 minutes I thought we gave England a bit of a show," Georgallis said.
"We scored early, which is unusual for us, and I just think they clicked into another gear and class shone.
"The players never gave up. I thought they came out in the second half and stuck to their guns. England scored some good tries...but I'm proud, happy and emotional."
