WARRINGTON Wolves half-back George Williams was at the heart of everything good about England’s destruction of Papua New Guinea as they reached the semi-finals of the Rugby League World Cup.

Through his kicks and runs, the 28-year-old produced four try assists and crossed for a score himself as Shaun Wane’s men established a superb 38-0 lead inside 26 minutes.

There was no way back for the Kumuls from there, although they did stop the floodgates from opening the second half as the game ended 46-6.

Tommy Makinson became the first player to score five tries in a match for England and with his five conversations too the St Helens winger achieved a personal haul of 30 points.

England’s other tries came from Tom Burgess, Dom Young and Kallum Watkins.

Here, sports editor Mike Parsons casts his keen eye over the England display and makes four observations:

THREAT:

There is threat all across the field and that is what makes Shaun Wane’s England side so exciting to watch.

A lot of talk has been about newcomer Dom Young’s impact on the right wing – and the Newcastle Knights star has scored some sensational tries for his country during this tournament – but against PNG it was on the left where St Helens’ former world player of the year Tommy Makinson scored an England record five tries in the quarter-final against the Kumuls.

But England are far more dangerous than just what they are capable of dishing up on the flanks.

Whether it is the articulated truck Tom Burgess smashing holes through defences down the middle, smartness from George Williams and Sam Tomkins creating opportunities, electric surges from the second row by John Bateman and Elliott Whitehead as well as the deceptive trickery in the centres from Kallum Watkins and Herbie Farnworth, this England side takes some stopping

DEFENCE:

It is a well-known fact in rugby league that wins are built on strong defence.

And England have shown that in abundance so far in this tournament.

At international level, every player knows how to tackle of course, but the key is all buying into the structure which the coach puts in place and producing the right attitude to make defence count on match day.

Right from the first whistle against Papua New Guinea, the England defence tore into their opponents and it laid the platform for the possession and territory dominance they enjoyed in the first half to establish a 38-0 lead inside 26 minutes.

England will need more of the same and better in the games to come, but the huge positive is that the desire and hunger shown so far can be the springboard towards England winning the Rugby League World Cup.

KICKING GAME:

It is so important to deliver strong kicks at the end of sets at the highest level of rugby league, when the margins between teams can be so small.

And perhaps even more so in wet and cold conditions that we can expect more of in a typical English November.

To that end, and in terms of getting the process right for further down the line, it was pleasing to see such a variety of kicks from George Williams and Sam Tomkins against PNG - and just as pleasing to see the chasers challenging for the possession again or pummelling the receiver in defence.

Five of England’s eight first-half tries came from kicks, some which were grubbers skidding along the wet surface, others from higher kicks that dropped on the heads of shorter PNG players or were positioned perfectly for the chasers to win the battles in the air.

This aspect of England’s game in the quarter-final brings waves of optimism going forward.

BELIEF:

It is time for the nation to believe and get excited.

There have been few occasions in recent generations when a national team in one of the major sports look like strong candidates to win a world cup.

The England rugby league team have shown such potential, especially in their opening win against the highly fancied Samoans and in a similarly destructive performance in the quarter-finals against a Papua New Guinean team considered to be the best to ever represent their country.

Of course, it is the nature of the tournament that the stiffest tests are yet to come in the semi-final at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium next Saturday and hopefully in the final at Old Trafford on November 19.

But it is the confidence and form of all the individuals showing in the team’s dominance over the four games so far that provides the indication of this not being false hopes.

When every player is doing their job to the best of their ability, which is how it is looking, the nation has every right to feel there could be a very special ending in sight.

A record crowd of 23,470 for a world cup quarter-final in Wigan today shows some of the belief is building but England need much more and need to know the country is truly behind them when they go into next week's semi-final.