The eyes of the world were on England and Australia as the old rivalry was fought out in the opening game for both in the Physical Disability Rugby League World Cup in Warrington

Australia, featuring TV presenter and PDRL campaigner Adam Hills, were looking to follow on from the Kangaroos success in the tournament, while England were full of talent from Super League and led by former England player Shaun Briscoe.

England took the lead after a clever off-load by Tommy Pouncey was taken by Sam Zellar at full pace and the back ran clear to score under the posts

Australia battled back and, following a penalty for a high tackle which put them within 10 metres, Bryce Crane snuck in from dummy half to score the try

Straight from the tap to restart, Fleming went through a gap after a pass by Ben Nicholson.

Nick Kennedy sped around and ran clear after Zellar caught a high, hanging kick, ran into space and passed to Kennedy, who showed a great turn of pace to run clear

Barnett ran off dummy half, delayed the pass as he attracted players, then put Sam Zellar through for his second, running clear to score near the posts

Callum Parkinson, in his distinctive boxing head guard, was then unstoppable as he raced through several tackle attempts and powered his way over the line

Nick Kennedy got his second of the game at the start of the second half, picking up a loose ball and after stepping to the outside, stepped back in and flew across the line.

After fighting off a determined spell of attack from Australia, England were able to take the play up the other end and Callum Parkinson fought off a tackle attempt by Kyle Lloyd to score his second from a quick pass on the right by Adam Morris

Australia kept pressing and working hard, with Adam Hills a continued presence from dummy half, but the holes kept appearing in defence and after Fleming made a break from a Dean pass, his pass to the outside put Ben Seward clear for a memorable long-distance try which had the crowd on their feet.

The hard hits came up for both sides, with some big tackles going in, but with the sportsmanship on show where players looked after each other, telling the referee straightaway if someone was hurt.

As players began to tire, the tackles began to take their toil and England were able to add another when, after breaking two tackles, Sam Zellar put Nick Leigh through to run clear and over.

Jamie Barnett then completed the scoring on a banner day for the Physical Disability game, ploughing over from dummy half to score near the posts, while also suffering a leg injury in the act of doing so.

The win was England’s on the field by 58-6, but for both teams, it was a day of triumph and friendship as they showed their skills to the world.