England coach Shaun Wane says he is fairly close to knowing his strongest team after his side smashed Greece 94-4 in a record victory.
England ran in 17 tries as they secured top spot in Group A with the huge win in Sheffield.
“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. It was a tough one for us today to gain any positive thoughts on it.
“If we won easy, we should have won easy. If they’d have pushed us close, we’d have got hammered. We just had to win and go into next week with some confidence.
“I’m fairly close [to knowing my strongest team]. The last three weeks have been hard, game time for everybody. This week will be the 17 players that can get us the win v PNG.
“That will be a different challenge. If people think we are under done, they’d be wrong.”
Wane rested a number of players, including Sam Tomkins, with Marc Sneyd playing in the halves.
Sneyd broke the record for most points in an England match with 30.
Asked if the halfback has given Wane something to think about, he replied: “He has done from day one, how he has behaved in camp, away from training ground, he has been impeccable.
“He played really well again today, with his boot and how he plays and how he handles himself. I’m really impressed.”
Dom Young also grabbed four tries, to bring his World Cup tally up to eight.
🙌 That winning feeling!
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— England Rugby League (@England_RL) October 29, 2022
“He is playing really well,” Wane said.
“He trains well. He is very quiet off the field but when he turns up to games he knows how to score. “I’ve been really impressed with him. He’s a good kid. He’s a talent. He’s 6ft 7in, he can score, he is very skilful.
“We have a strong squad to pick from. The wingers are strong, we have three good wingers. I will pick the two that can get us a win against PNG. It will be easy in the end.”
England are expected to play Papua New Guinea next in the quarter-finals.
“I’m into this week,” Wane said.
“It’s sudden death. We will train hard, lots of video. It’s game on. These are the weeks I like where it’s pressure and we have to win.”
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