The ‘spray’ delivered by Papua New Guinea head coach Jason Demetriou at half-time in Wollongong was so loud it rang around the England dressing room.

Having both won one of their first two games in the tournament, both England and PNG entered Friday’s final group stage clash knowing a mathematical miracle would be needed for them to qualify for the semi-finals.

After a dominant opening 20 minutes, England raced into a 22-0 lead which made the impossible look possible: eventually going back into the sheds at the break with a 24-0 advantage.

But their dominance did not continue, and a rousing second half display followed from the Kumuls – who were beaten 34-12 but ended up 12-10 victors in that second 40: perhaps thanks to the blast delivered by boss Demetriou at half-time.

Jason Demetriou’s half-time ‘spray’ heard in England dressing room as PNG coach ‘immensely proud’

PNG’s exit from the tournament is official after their defeat, but that spirited second half showing means they also look likely to have put the final nail in England’s coffin.

Brian McDermott’s men now need Tonga to beat Samoa by at least 46 points on Sunday, an absolute improbability.

After their win in Wollongong, England boss McDermott admitted: “I could hear Jason (Demetriou) screaming from the dressing room there and giving them a blast, and they came out and played very physically.”

The Kumuls have not been able to call upon a number of their usual stars for this World Cup, including Leigh Leopards ace Lachlan Lam and the NRL’s all-time leading try-scorer Alex Johnston. Hooker Edwin Ipape was also unavailable for the clash with England.

Post-match, Demetriou shared: “It was a fair spray at half-time, to be fair. Not because of any other reason other than I just didn’t feel like we were going at the contest.

“I felt we were stepping back and not going after it like we had spoken about during the week. I wanted to see us go at it.

“I felt like there was half a team really ripping in, and another half that were just sort of… I say it all the time, you either want to win collisions or you want to make collisions, and we weren’t winning them, or trying to win them, either.

“We were happy to make tackles instead of win tackles. We were happy to make runs instead of trying to win the ground and play the ball quick.

“It’s a slight difference of the mentality of the elite level as opposed to maybe the semi-elite level. The boys took that on, and responded individually and collectively as a group.”

“I’m immensely proud. I think it was 22-0 after 20, 25 minutes, and it could have gotten real ugly.”