Scully's Column: England's wing wonders are leading way in World Cup

If it’s not Dom Young with his nine tries so far in the tournament, then it’s Saints star Tommy Makinson grabbing the headlines.

His five-try performance in the Quarter Final win against Papua New Guinea is the most tries ever scored by an England player in one game.

It will come as no shock to the Saints faithful who watch Tommy play week in week out.

The thing that stood out for me with his performance in the 46-6 rout of the Kumuls was not any spectacular finishes or 60 metre break aways, because there wasn’t any.

It was his sheer effort and commitment to put himself in the picture, in the right spot at the right time…to compete on all kick chases, to ground the ball when everyone else was referee watching.That was the difference.

A lot has been made in the last couple of weeks about the two wing selections, with Tommy, Dom and Ryan Hall, who himself has scored four tries in two games against France and Greece.

For me, Tommy Makinson is one of the first names on the team sheet, period. His finishing is outstanding, we know that.

But the work in the back field, the hard yards from his own tryline, his kick chases on defence - both invaluable to his team, and traits why he will always be the first winger chosen.

It was great to see our last eight game get the Royal seal of approval, with the new Rugby League patron HRH the Princess of Wales cheering the boys on from the West Stand at the DW stadium.

She sat alongside new bessies Jodie Cunningham and England Womens skipper Emily Rudge following their impressive win over Canada earlier that afternoon.

I must say I’m a big fan of the Princess. She fully bought into the occasion, and certainly looked like she enjoyed her first taste of live elite RL.

I loved the way she spoke to the young mascots prior to the game and no doubt created memories for a lifetime for those youngsters, along with the players. It was certainly the most passionate official party meet and greet I’ve ever seen even if it knocked kick-off back a minute or two!

Her presence will have certainly helped continue to spread the profile of our great game to the many untapped all over the world.

So, as England men now progress to the Semi Finals, it was all about who they will play next Saturday down at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, between Samoa and Kristian Woolf’s Tonga.

And what a game this was!

Neither of these two teams have really lived up to their pre-tournament hype in truth. Samoa being put to the sword week one by England, albeit improving as the group stages went on.

Tonga, again although topping Group D with three wins from three, never really hit the heights of the last RLWC 2017 or the International Series in 2019 when they rolled everybody in front of them.

However, this game was always going to be different! Firstly, it’s knock out football, but more importantly it’s a fierce rivalry between two Pacific Islands who have history.

This was captivating straight from the beginning! The two-way Haka (the Siva Tau- Samoa Vs the Sipi Tau- Tonga) was an amazing watch as both teams prepared to go into battle. They didn’t disappoint.

Despite watching Samoa in that opening fixture in Newcastle, I did tip them to beat Tonga in the current form. Half backs Jerome Lui and Anthony Milford were the difference, and are two players England must shut down if they are to progress to the Old Trafford final on November 19.

I’m sure there won’t be much reference to that opening destruction of Samoa by England Coach Shaun Wane as he prepares his team for the biggest game of their season, some of their career.

Samoa have improved enormously over the last three weekends, but so have England…and undoubtedly all the focus will be about what we can control.

It’s been a pretty clinical four weeks by Waney's men, and they will certainly be going into this game very confident, and looking to progress to the awaiting big stage at Old Trafford to face either Australia or New Zealand.

On that, based on previous performances I can’t see past that being the kangaroos and hopefully an opportunity of redemption for that 4-0 final defeat in Brisbane in 2017.

England principal partners Betfred have the Aussies 2/5 favourites to lift the trophy in Manchester, now closely followed by England at 7/2. New Zealand are 8/1 with Samoa the outsiders at 14/1.

On Saturday I'm thinking England, if our preparations stay spot on, will beat Samoa by 20 points or more which is 3/1 with Betfred.

And you should think about getting on Makinson or Young who are both 7/1 to score the first try of the game.