Calderwood presents case for promotion

England A 68 France 6

The day after their elders failed yet again, the next crop of young English players showed some signs of hope for the future as they won the inaugural European Nations Cup at Warrington with ease and some style.

Mark Calderwood spearheaded the destruction of a poor French side with four tries, all the product of his ability to chase kicks. If Great Britain are looking for players to promote to the full side for the third Test, however, it was the lively form of Calderwood's Leeds team-mates, Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire, that would have caught the eye.

Burrows' livewire scrum-half play would have been a welcome option at Hull the day before, while Maguire, despite not scoring, was involved in much of England's best work.

"We've got people in their last Test series, so you might as well give some of these some experience," said their coach, John Kear, who picked out the two Leeds half-backs, Danny Tickle, Rob Parker and Ade Gardner as players who would be ready. "Unleash them. Let them have a go," Kear added.

Gareth Hock, Calderwood and Burrow, led the way with two tries apiece as England ran amok with eight in the first half.

Martin Aspinwall got another, but the pick of the lot was from Andy Lynch. That came when Sean O'Loughlin measured a chip over the defence, Sean Briscoe gathered and the ball went through a series of hands before the Castleford prop's power took him over.

The only downside was that Calderwood showed his familiar failing in defending under kicks when he was beaten by Teddy Sadaoui for the only French try of the afternoon.

England were not quite as exhilarating after the break as France succeeded in limiting the damage by monopolising possession for long periods. It was 16 minutes into the second half before England got moving again through Gardner's try, followed by Calderwood's third and fourth, separated by an exhibition of sheer strength from Parker.

ENGLAND: Briscoe (Wigan); Calderwood (Leeds), Reardon (Bradford), Aspinwall (Wigan), Gardner (St Helens); McGuire (Leeds), Burrow (Leeds), Lynch (Castleford); Diskin (Leeds), Parker (Bradford), Tickle (Wigan), Hock (Wigan), O'Loughlin (Wigan). Substitutes used: Rooney (Wakefield), Sculthorpe (Wigan), Purdham (London), Sibbit (Warrington).

FRANCE: Banquet, Van Snick, Estebanez, Sadaoui, Abasse, Frayssinnous, Rinaldi, Faumina, Berthezene, Pramil, Jampy, Vaigafa, Carrasco. Substitutes used: Gerin, Hechiche, Sabatie, Azema.

Referee: K Kirkpatrick (Warrington).