George Williams says England were a little below their best against Samoa in the World Cup semi-final and got punished.

England were knocked out of the tournament after Stephen Crichton won the game in golden point with a field goal.

“We didn’t play how we wanted to and we probably got what we deserved,” Williams said.

“We are well better than what we showed today. Credit to Samoa and good luck to them in the final, but we are disappointed with how we played. When we did get momentum, we’d then make an error out of ill-discipline.

“They’ve got too many players for us to be off, and we were a little bit off today. As you can imagine, it’s pretty heartbreaking.

“Watching that kick [from Stephen Crichton] go over was a nightmare, it felt like it was going over forever, it went that slow.

Williams revealed the raw emotions inside the England dressing room after the semi-final defeat at the Emirates.

Samoa will now meet Australia in the World Cup final.

🇼🇸 This is it – the moment Stephen Crichton sent Samoa to the men's Rugby League World Cup 2021 final!#RLWC2021 #ENGSAM pic.twitter.com/D7p20W3YhM

— Rugby League World Cup 2021 (@RLWC2021) November 12, 2022

“It was a tough one to take, there’s some heartbroken lads,” he said.

“It’s some people’s first tournament, and some people’s last, so you can imagine there’s some tears.

“It’s been the best six weeks of my life, it’s been brilliant, credit to the coaching staff, the players and Waney (Shaun Wane) for the environment he’s made.

“We fell short which is the most disappointing thing. We knew we had to be at our best to win the game, and I don’t think we was.

“We had been throughout the tournament, but that’s why it hurts, because on the biggest stage we fell short.

“It’ll take until the next World Cup to get over this, that will sit with us for the next three years. We’ll never have this group together again, so that’s why it hurts so much.”