England 60 France 6: Sterner tests needed after England cruise to victory

The hurried off-load occurred just as quickly as his side had set about destroying a feeble France in an 11-try mauling on Saturday evening.

But it spoke volumes as the surprised Gareth Ellis found himself clasping the 'rewards' in the middle of the team picture while his smiling leader stayed on the fringes.

For someone as decorated as Peacock, or indeed any of the England players featured at Leigh, it was all slightly embarrassing and awkward to receive silverware for victory in a game which was more akin to a training run than any true sense of international test.

There is no one more patriotic than the Leeds Rhinos forward who wants to be proudly lifting the Four Nations trophy in Brisbane come November 13 but – as England's only game on home soil before they depart – questions remain about how useful this annual fixture against the French really is as preparation for the true examination

Australia and New Zealand will undoubtedly provide.

England have now won 11 consecutive games against Les Tricolores, including a 66-12 rout in Paris last year and a 56-8 scoreline in Toulouse the previous season, the last time they suffered defeat being at Headingley in 1981. Those sort of numbers say it all.

The sublime Sam Tomkins benefited most from depleted France's latest flimsy and porous offering, scoring a record-equalling four tries inside 24 first-half minutes.

The wiry scrum-half, who shot to prominence in last season's Four Nations, joined a list of six others to achieve such a feat, the last of whom was another Wigan player – Martin Offiah against France at Gateshead in 1996 – but also includes Huddersfield's Stan Moorhouse nearly a century ago.

Everything Tomkins touched seemed to turn to gold in that opening period.

His display was reminiscent of Shaun Edwards in his prime, more instinctive predatory skill than playmaking, while he created a promising combination with Huddersfield's Kevin Brown, one of three debutants in coach Steve McNamara's first game in charge.

Tomkins's first came on 14 minutes following a splendid passage which started with Sam Burgess shrugging off David Ferriol to launch Gareth Widdop, the debutant full-back, who majestically cut a swathe through the French defence.

Chris Bridge provided the link and Tomkins supported on his inside.

His second try materialised after the lithe scrum-half was forced to duck and step to elude a charging French defence and then had enough awareness and balance to stretch over the line.

Tomkins's brother Joel – the third debutant – had provided the pass and it was his Wigan team-mate who again gave the crucial delivery for his hat-trick on 36 minutes, an excellent crisp off-load under pressure allowing his younger sibling enough space to use his trademark acceleration to reach the corner.

But the England star was not done. At the end of the restart set, he showed yet more ingenuity with a cleverly weighted chip over France's defence on halfway.

Widdop charged up midfield and collected before immediately kicking on as full-back Constant Villegas approached and it was Tomkins who won the race to the line for his fourth score.

It needed something special to take the spotlight away from Widdop, who made an immediate impact on the international arena.

The 21-year-old full-back, whose family had emigrated from Halifax to Australia when he was a teenager, had only played two senior games with Melbourne Storm but scored with his first touch for England inside two minutes.

A slick movement initiated by James Graham and continued by the bullocking Burgess saw Bridge escape and Widdop motored up on his shoulder for a dream start.

He showed fine composure and handling to make the defining pass that saw Bridge cruise in just four minutes later and was involved again in Tomkins's first, fully justifying McNamara's surprise decision to fly the exciting rookie 10,000 miles.

The only first-half blot for England had been when Andrew Bentley benefited from some weak defence between the posts, Gregory Mounis converting, but the second half was one-way traffic.

Sam Tomkins – he and Joel became the first pair of brothers to represent their country since Widnes's David and Paul Hulme in 1989 – could have scored a fifth after breaking once more but instead unselfishly found Michael Shenton for the first of the Castleford centre's two tries.

Ellis, who like the hulking Burgess and Widdop had been flown in from Australia, forced his way over for two, England profiting with 22 points while Villegas was in the sin-bin for a trip on Bridge, who also scored.

Kevin Sinfield kicked six goals with Widdop adding another two as England completed their annual points-fest.

England: Widdop, Briscoe, Bridge, Shenton, Hall, Brown, S Tomkins, Graham, Sinfield, Peacock (capt), Ellis, Burgess, O'Loughlin. Replacements: Roby, Morley, Westwood ,

J Tomkins.

France: Villegas, Piquemal, Gossard, Raguin, Vaccari, Gigot, Munoz, Ferriol, Mounis, Casty, Elima, Fakir, Bentley. Replacements: Barthau, Griffi, Simon, Touxagas.

MATCH FOCUS

Hero: Sam Tomkins

The impish Wigan half-back – still only 21 – turned up everywhere to leave France breathless and himself in the record books. The opposition may not have been the best, but at least he is showing the type of form that could trouble the better teams.

Villain: Sean O'Loughlin

Super League's form player, who has missed the last two major internatonal tournaments through injury, was his usual dominant self in defence but suffered some uncharacteristic handling errors and failed to impress.

Key moment: 2nd minute

The ease with which England splintered the French defence for Gareth Widdop to ease over was a sign of things to come.

Ref watch

Leon Williamson (New Zealand): Just like England's performance, a stress-free evening for the official.

Verdict

Difficult to assess England against such poor oppositon and Steve McNamara will not have learned too much.

Next game

New Zealand v England, Wellington, October 23 although a Four Nations warm-up fixture is planned before.

Quote of the day

We can argue all day if it's right or wrong or intense enough, but the week and the game itself has served a whole lot of purposes for us.

– England coach Steve McNamara on the future of the fixture.