England thrash Wales to begin World Cup defence

Rob Hawkins said England "were not playing to our standards" despite beginning their Wheelchair World Cup title defence with a commanding 98-18 win over Wales.

Two-time winners England scored 18 tries to Wales' three in Wollongong, with Hawkins banking 11 tries and four conversions for an individual tally of 52 points.

Nathan Collins scored four tries and made nine of 11 conversion attempts, with Joe Coyd, Jack Brown and Mason Billington the other try-scorers for England in a victory Hawkins hopes will be a "stepping stone" towards brighter performances.

"Today's performance was a decent start for the team," said Hawkins. "It wasn't the best match we could have played.