England coach Steve McNamara reserved special praise for four-try hero Sam Tomkins after overcoming France 60-6.
England boss focuses on positives after 11-try romp
England coach Steve McNamara reserved special praise for four-try hero Sam Tomkins after his first game in charge ended in a 60-6 win over France.
Wigan scrum-half Tomkins scored a record-equalling four tries in Leigh, while there were impressive contributions from his debutant brother Joel and Melbourne full-back Gareth Widdop.
England ran in 11 tries in all, and McNamara admitted after the match that Tomkins, who would have made history with a fifth score, was simply too "hot" for the French.
"I'm glad he didn't score the fifth so he'll be hungry to do it next time," McNamara said.
Poor
"He was pretty hot there in the first-half. When you get to spend a week with these players and understand their strengths, you see that Sam has that little bit of X-Factor about him."
Tomkins and Widdop, both 21, were the undoubted stars for England who made easy work of the visitors in what was an 11th-successive win over Bobbie Goulding's men.
And McNamara was keen to focus on the positives of the day rather than dwell on the lack of genuine competition France pose in the international game.
"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," he said.
"We've spent some time together, we've shown some very good combinations, scored some super tries and there were some poor things in there as well, so it was a nice mix for us."
McNamara, who will leave his job with Bradford at the end of the season to look after England on a full-time basis, was also vindicated in his decision to fly Widdop, with just two senior appearances for Melbourne to his name, halfway around the world to make his debut.
"I thought he was excellent in the first-half," McNamara added. "His start was sensational but I thought he fatigued, which we expected with him being a young boy and the travel. We understood that was going to be the case.
"I wanted to have a good look at him and for the other players to have a good look at him. He's looked composed all week and he took that into the game. He showed all the composure in the world."
France coach Goulding struggled to hide his disappointment after the mauling and admitted that he had feared his side would end up on the end of a heavy defeat.
Apart from Andrew Bentley's first-half try and a typically robust showing from forwards Remi Casty and David Ferriol, there was little to suggest that France are any closer to England than they were when they lost twice to them in 2009.
Improve
But Goulding is hopeful that when some of his key players, such as talisman Thomas Bosc, are fit again, the shoots of growth will reappear.
"We had a go but if you're realistic about things, we knew what was going to happen in the end," he said.
"It was men against boys and I said that in Paris last year. It was 6-0 for 25 minutes in the second-half so there were some positives.
"We came so far in the Four Nations and all I wanted to do was improve and come a little bit closer, but unfortunately, with all the injuries and that, it wasn't to be.
"We haven't got a large pool of players to pick from but I thought the pack did okay and had a go at it.
"We have the European Cup at the end of the year and I know with the likes of Thomas Bosc and Clint Greenshields available, we'll be okay."
