England Clubb Kumuls 36-10

AUCKLAND: Giant English centre Tony Clubb bagged four tries against PNG on Saturday enabling his side to end their dismal Four Nations with a welcomed 36-10 drubbing of Kumuls.
The 106kg Harlequins three-quarter on debut crossed three times in the first half, the best of which was a length of the field effort straight from a restart, and capped off a memorable debut with momentum killer in the second stanza.
Ben Harrison scored the other try.
The other try scorer for England in the first half was halfback Luke Robinson who posted a double, the second of which was a slicing run adding the finishing touch to  another English raid in the 32nd minute.
The English held a sizeable 24-0 lead at the break but poor ball handling coupled with the loss of Robinson to a shoulder injury hindered England’s creativity and structure play.
But ironically, most of England’s seven tries came from off-loads and keeping the ball alive which pointed to a score at all costs attitude coach  Steve McNamara would have wanted.
The Kumuls, with several positional changes, were more competitive against England but still lacked the staying power as they let five unanswered tries through in  the first half.
Kumul coach Gene showed his hand picking Wakefield-bound Jessie Joe Parker at fullback while moving Elijah Riyong into the centres and bringing in Richard Kambo on to the wing.
But it was in the forwards that Gene perhaps may have got the formula right when he paired veteran Makali Aizue with Nixon Kolo.
Kolo, who was making his debut as a run-on player, was a stand out in the Kumul pack.
The rugged Western Highlander made his presence felt on defence and was equally impressive carting the ball up.
Kumuls scored two tries through a barging effort from Aizue close to the line while centre Menzie Yere grabbed his second try of the tournament finishing off a move which started from a Glen Nami chip and chase at halfway.
A disappointed Kumul captain Paul Aiton was candid in his assessment of his team simply saying they were not good enough.
“I’m disappointed.
“We’re just not good enough to compete against these sides.
“The effort is there which is good but errors and ill-discipline just let use down,” he said.