Try doubles from Ryan Hall and Dom Young saw England past France 42-18 to put them in pole position to top Pool A. 

Two tries from Hall and one for prop Luke Thompson helped the hosts into a commanding lead but France fought back with first-half scores from Arthur Mourgue and Eloi Pélissier. 

England regained their composure in the second half as Elliott Whitehead and Victor Radley went over with 21-year-old sensation Young collecting his second double in as many weeks.

Those scores made certain of a 21st consecutive victory over Les Chanticleers, with Arthur Romano's try only a late consolation for France.

Having missed out on selection last week against Samoa, Hall took only six minutes to prove his worth for the hosts. 

He dotted down his 39th England try - set up by World Cup debutant Marc Sneyd who hoovered up the ball after Sam Tomkins batted it back from a kick. 

Hall stretched his record as England’s leading try scorer further by crossing in the corner after George Williams’ perfectly-weighted pass over the top found Herbie Farnworth who offloaded to the Hull KR man. 

Farnworth was then called into action defensively as France fought their way out of their own half, the centre rolling Morgan Escaré into touch to quash a promising attack.

Escaré was put under pressure again when the ball bobbled out favourably for England as debutant Mikolaj Oledzki moved his side forward. 

Radley jinked his way past counterpart Benjamin Garcia before feeding Thompson who steamed in under the posts to add England’s third. 

France had no choice but to respond and they did on the half-hour mark, Mourgue chasing his own deflected chip to touch down.

England had been close to blemish-free but France started to extract errors, Farnworth coughing up the ball in a heavy tackle as Les Tricolores advanced. 

Andy Ackers could not stop Pélissier barging over to send a warning shot round the University of Bolton Stadium before Mourgue converted to bring France within six points at half-time. 

Any nerves England were feeling were channelled into attack as they got their fourth five minutes after the restart, John Bateman’s solo run, on his return from suspension, setting up Whitehead for his third try of the tournament.

The hosts’ 18-point lead was reinstated by Radley, who reached Ackers’ smart poke through first before Sneyd maintained his 100 percent conversion rate from the tee.

England chose to run it out of trouble at pace Jack Welsby taking advantage of a two on one to find Young in space who slid over for his tenth try in six games for club and country. 

Young was not done yet, intercepting a pass from Pélissier and sprinting the length of the pitch to move England out of sight of a ragged France.

However, Laurent Frayssinous' side had the last word, as Tony Gigot evaded a Sneyd tackle to set up Romano for the final score of the game.