Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup final: Leeds Rhinos' Tom Halliwell is match-winner as England stun France

Captain Tom Halliwell, of Leeds Rhinos, scored the winning try two minutes from time, to cap a sensational player of the match performance as holders France were vanquished 28-24 in the Wheelchair World Cup final in front of a world record crowd of 4,526 at Manchester Central on Friday.

England trailed 8-0 early on and were two behind at the break, but led twice in the second half only for France to level each time.

The defending champions then missed with a penalty before Halliwell split their defence for his second try of the match to win it.

It was a brilliant final and the result delighted a passionate crowd who erupted at the final whistle as England avenged defeats in the two previous deciders.

There was an extraordinary moment in the second half when the defence referee, Frenchman Laurent Abrial, went into a strop after a decision went against France.

He had to be spoken to several times by a colleague and was still furious at the end. That sort of nonsense clearly isn’t acceptable in such a high-profile game, but didn’t detract from England’s achievement. An ecstatic Halliwell said: “I am on top of the world, words don’t do it justice. It is the best feeling in the world.”

England showed tremendous spirit to bounce back from a poor start which saw Lionel Alazard kick France ahead with a penalty that proved to be the difference at half-time.

The opening try came after 10 minutes when Alazard went over from a fine offload by Nicolas Claussells.

England must have feared it wasn’t going to be their night when Joe Coyd - and the crowd - thought he had scored, but he had been tackled just short, then Lewis King knocked on going for the line after a sweeping move.

England went a quarter of the game before getting points on the board through some individual magic by Halliwell, who cut through after a penalty in front of the posts.

England seemed to be gaining the upper hand, but Florian Guttadoro’s long pass gave Mostefa Absassi space to cross at the corner 11 minutes before the interval, Nicolas Clausells punching over his second goal.

Four minutes before the interval Jack Brown touched down from Joe Coyd’s pass, but - after a long discussion between the officials - the try was ruled out.

That could have been a crucial moment, but a brilliant try by Brown cut the gap to just two, the Halifax Panthers man side-stepping through the defence in the final seconds from a pass by Leeds’ Nathan Collins who also added the extras.

That got England right back into the game and they went ahead within seconds of the restart through Lewis King who crossed from Brown’s pass after a dazzling move in which Seb Bechara was involved twice.

Collins couldn’t convert, but England led 16-14 and they went two scores clear on 53 minutes through Brown, whose touchdown was improved by Collins.

England were on top at that stage but the ever-dangerous Nicolas Clausells carved out a try for his brother Gilles within moments, the conversion made it a two-point game and he landed a penalty to level the scores with 17 minutes left.

Nicolas Clausells blotted his copybook with a foul on Bechara, France were moved downfield for dissent and Collins took the two, but Nicolas Clausells levelled in similar fashion moments later and then missed with a penalty before Halliwell became the last-gasp hero.

France: Abassi, Alazard, Bourson, Pennella, N Clausells. Subs Guttadorio, Hivernat, G Clausells, Vargas.

England: Halliwell, Hawkins, Coyd, Bechara, King. Subs Collins,Brown, Roberts, Boardman, Simpson.

Attack referee: Ollie Cruickshank (Scotland). Defence referee: Laurent Abrial (France).

Attendance: 4,526.