England beat Spain to move closer to last four

Jack Brown gets a tackle in on Spain's Yannick Martin

England are almost guaranteed a semi-final place at the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup after five tries from Rob Hawkins led them to a comprehensive win over Spain.

Hawkins, 20, is the youngest player in the England squad.

"What a match," the Halifax Panthers player said afterwards.

"We wanted to get some points on the board and we did. We didn't complete well enough against Australia and that was our main aim here. Full credit to the boys and the coaching staff, who have got us to the point we needed to be at."

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England coach Tom Coyd opted to start with the influential Jack Brown, who made a big impact when coming in off the bench against Australia in their opening pool game.

On Sunday, it took just 16 seconds for the 2019 Golden Boot winner to score England's first try, but Spain's Theo Gonzalez, a key figure in his side's opening win over Ireland, levelled moments later.

Brown added his second on five minutes, only for Raphael Monedero to respond again.

But from then on, it was all one-way traffic as England exerted their authority, with Brown, one of two England players who won the trophy in 2008, pulling the strings.

James Simpson, making his World Cup debut, Wayne Boardman (2) and captain Tom Halliwell all crossed before Hawkins came into the game and used his speed to good effect for a quick-fire hat-trick before adding two more late on and earning the Player of the Match award.

Dec Roberts, who could face his father Phil when England play Ireland in their final pool game on Wednesday, came in as Coyd opted to rotate his squad and try out different combinations. Roberts scored a hat-trick as well as adding six goals.

Joe Coyd, the coach's younger brother, went over twice to make it four tries in the tournament, while Adam Rigby was the ninth England player to score a try.