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10 May 2022

England Watch | May 10

England Watch | May 10

With the 2021 Rugby League World Cup now less than 200 days away, we take a look at the fortunes of our England hopefuls across a packed weekend of action, which included the Betfred Women's Challenge Cup Final, Men's Semi-Finals and more...

Men

Liam Marshall scored twice as Wigan Warriors saw off fierce rivals St Helens 20-18 in a classic Cup Semi-Final.

The winger was in fine form at Elland Road, in front of a peak TV audience of one million. He set the tone with a flying finish just three minutes in before he snatched an interception try on 70 minutes to seal a memorable win and a place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Liam Farrell started in the back row for Wigan and bagged a fine first-half try alongside a huge chunk of running metres, while John Bateman was also handed a start and was a leading performer for the winning Warriors.

St Helens trailed 14-0 at half time in the match, but Jonny Lomax played through the pain of an arm injury to help inspire a second half comeback.

The halfback got over for a try on 50 minutes but couldn't hold their 18-14 lead late on - Tommy Makinson also kicked three goals for Saints on their comeback effort.

Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees, Mark Percival, Alex Walmsley and Jack Welsby all started for the ultimately beaten side as their attention turns to retaining the Super League title.

Jermaine McGillvary scored an impressive try early in the second half for Huddersfield as they saw off Hull KR 25-4 at Elland Road on Saturday.

The winger was named Player of the Match as Huddersfield reached their first major final since 2009 - it will be McGillvary's first appearance in a final for his club, though he did start the 2017 Rugby League World Cup final for England.

In opposition, Ryan Hall couldn't continue his prolific recent run for Hull KR as Tony Smith's side failed to find their rhythm in the face of an impressive Huddersfield performance.

Women

St Helens overcame Leeds 18-8 in front of a UK record crowd of 5,888 and England stars were to the fore in both teams on the day.

For Leeds, their captain Courtney Winfield-Hill kicked two goals, including an eye-catching 35-metre penalty goal to make it 8-4 to her side at half time.

The Rhinos handed starts to Dannielle Anderson, Caitlin Beevers, Keara Bennett, Fran Goldthorp, Emma Lumley and Georgia Roche but came up just short on the day.

In the winning Saints camp, their captain Jodie Cunningham was in inspirational form - she scored her first try of the season in the second half to put her side in front for the first time.

There was also a try for Leah Burke who collected a Zoe Harris kick to go over, while Beth Stott set up a score with her in-play kicking game as well as adding a conversion for the winning side.

Chantelle Crowl, Amy Hardcastle, Tara Jones, Carrie Roberts, Emily Rudge, Paige Travis, Vicky Whitfield, Naomi Williams and Rachael Woosey all featured for Derek Hardman's side in an impressive showcase of the women's game at Elland Road.

Wheelchair

A spectacular Betfred Wheelchair Super League clash was played out on Saturday between Leeds Rhinos and London Roosters. The title-chasing pair went head-to-head in Leeds, with the Rhinos fighting back from 18-0 down to claim a dramatic 58-46 win.

The Rhinos launched a comeback as Tom Halliwell scored twice and player-coach James Simpson went over. Nathan Collins made no mistake with three conversions to make it 18-all after 30 minutes of play.

Collins and Halliwell - completing his hat-trick - went over before the break and Leeds led 30-22 at the interval. Though London stuck back after the restart, going within a score heading into the final 15 minutes, Collins chipped and collected his own kick to score his third, converting to take his day's tally to 30 points

Josh Butler was a late scorer for Leeds as they rounded off a third win from five league games so far this season.

For the visitors, England squad member Lewis King impressed by scoring 14 of their first 18 points.

Elsewhere, Rob Hawkins scored a remarkable 11 tries for Halifax Panthers in their 68-36 win over Hull FC away from home.

He would register all but six of his side's points in an incredible performance for the Panthers. Fellow England man Nathan Mulhall was also on the scoresheet.

For Hull FC, new England squad member Billy Swainger got over for a try in defeat.

NRL round-up

In Thursday's NRL action, Herbie Farnworth started at centre and scored as his Brisbane Broncos side saw off South Sydney Rabbitohs 32-12 away from home.

On Friday, it was a battle of the England forwards as Canberra Raiders pair Elliott Whitehead and Ryan Sutton started against Luke Thompson's Canterbury Bulldogs.

The Raiders came out on top 14-4 on home turf and Whitehead scored a crucial first-half try for his side. Meanwhile Sutton caught the eye with a huge 129 metres in 44 minutes of action.

Thompson was one of the Bulldogs' leading performers with 25 tackles in 56 minutes on the pitch.

Oliver Gildart scored his first NRL try for Wests Tigers on Saturday, but the game ended in a 36-22 defeat at Manly Sea Eagles. The centre was also the leading line-breaker with three and also racked up 117 running metres.

Finally, Dom Young scored his fourth try of the season on Saturday. The winger opened the scoring for Newcastle Knights but they were beaten 36-16 by North Queensland Cowboys.

 

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You can get tickets to watch England in action in their mid-season international against the Combined Nations All Stars at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday 18 June here.