England 64-0 France: George Williams and Ash Handley score hat-tricks in thumping win

England took their first step towards the 2025 Rugby League World Cup with a thumping win over France in Warrington.

New England captain George Williams led by example on his home ground, scoring a hat-trick in a one-sided encounter.

Williams’ kicking game was also key in setting up Leeds winger Ash Handley for three tries.

“I enjoyed myself out there,” Williams told Sky Sports. “I think our young forwards laid the platform. Me, Harry [Smith] and Jack [Welsby] were able to play our stuff out of the back of it. It was really pleasing.

“But probably the best thing is the zero on France. They didn’t score a point, so that’s the England standards, and Waney [Shaun Wane] will be happy with the zero.”

“It’s a pleasing result, and I’m made up for the debutants. It’s a day they won’t forget.”

Wane suggested, despite the margin of the win, the performance was not absolutely perfect.

The head coach said: “At half-time, we had to improve one or two things. I wasn’t seeing England play France, I was seeing us play Samoa, and I knew there were details we need to get better at. And that detail I saw in the second half, which I’m really happy about.

“I thought overall, with 13 debuts, it’s a very proud day, seeing young kids like Matty Nicholson, 19, and Tyler Dupree doing really well. I’ve been genuinely excited for this game, and it lived up to it.

“We’re not going to get carried away, France were underdone, they had a lot of kids out, but I thought we did a lot of good things.”

With only three players involved from last autumn’s disappointing World Cup campaign, which ended against Samoa in the semi-final, this was a chance for England’s next generation to stake their claim for both this autumn’s Test series against Tonga and the next World Cup in France.

And when England opened the scoring in the fourth minute after a kick over the top by Williams found Handley on the wing, it looked like the home side’s recent dominance against their opponents would continue.

France, who were also missing some of their more experienced players, started to find their way into the game without causing too many problems for England, who soaked up the pressure and played some controlled rugby.

The new-look half-back pairing of Williams and Wigan’s Harry Smith started to gel as the half went on and England took control.

And once Jake Wardle dummied to set up his Warriors club-mate Smith for England’s second try on 20 minutes, Laurent Frayssinous’ young side struggled to respond.

The visitors’ defence stood off as loose forward Morgan Smithies fed another Wigan player Ethan Havard for a debut try.

England were dominant and on the back of a Danny Walker 40/20, the ball was passed from Smith to Jack Welsby who fed Wardle to touch down.

France fell further behind moments later when a superb ball from Welsby set Handley away and he beat the defence to pass inside for supporting skipper Williams to score.

In the final minute of the half, another moment of magic from Williams found Handley for his second try, with Smith kicking his sixth goal out of six for a 36-0 advantage at the break.

England continued to control matters in the second half – and Handley turned provider for Williams after 53 minutes, although Smith was unable to convert.

Handley completed his eighth career hat-trick on the hour mark, thanks to another superb Williams kick out to the wing, while credit must also go to Litton for a break in the build-up.

Another Williams run set up a try for Wigan’s Kai Pearce-Paul, who will be moving to NRL side Newcastle Knights next season, before the captain used his speed to get on the end of a Handley break to complete his own hat-trick.

And in the dying seconds, Williams and Welsby combined for one final time in the match to send debutant Walker over for his first international try.

“We will learn from this, we will take our medicine and keep on improving,” said a disappointed Frayssinous. “Even if we’ve got a disappointed, shattered dressing room, we know where we are and we will keep on working hard to be better.

“That type of game is about small details and how you absorb pressure and to be good in this context, you need to play week in week out.”

England: Welsby, Handley, King, Wardle, Ashton, Williams, Smith, Holroyd, Walker, Havard, Nicholson, Pearce-Paul, Smithies

Interchange: Litten, Harrison, Currie, Dupree

France: Zenon, Romano, Langi, Laguerre, Marcon, Morgue, Rouge, Chan, Marion, Vailhen, Jullien, Cozza, Goudemand.

Interchange: Tison, Sangare, Scimone, Jouffret