A callow Wales under Iestyn Harris’ new tutelage provided England with a more meaningful workout for the Gillette Four Nations series than had been been anticipated in Bridgend last night.

It took Tony Smith’s side an hour to wear down a bits-and-pieces Wales, who suffered eleven withdrawals from their squad but pleased Harris in grittily mounting a display that was not imagined possible on paper. England were hounded into errors, struggled for cohesion at times, but still conjured nine tries, three of them by Sam Tomkins, the Wigan stand-off, and a brace by another debutant, Hull wing Tom Briscoe.

Sam Burgess also underlined his importance to the side, which explained the concerns on the England bench when the burly loose forward clutched at his knee early in the second half. England must step up against France on Friday before they encounter Australia and New Zealand, but Smith was satisfied to have chipped away some of the rust and has nine absentees in his squad from Leeds and St Helens to call on.

“Had it been one-way traffic, it would have been no good for us,” he said.

Adrian Morley, captain in Jamie Peacock’s absence, said: “Wales showed a massive improvement from a year ago. The scoreline flattered us, because we ran away with it in the last ten minutes. It was vital preparation for those of us who haven’t played for five or six weeks. We were rusty in the first half but came through in the end.”

A more experienced Welsh side failed to score during the 74-0 rout in last year’s corresponding fixture but were first on the scoreboard inside two minutes. Paul Sykes, anxious to set aside his nightmarish experience in the 2008 World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand, fumbled Ian Webster’s grubber and Craig Kopczak took Neil Budworth’s intelligent pass and spun over in Adrian Morley’s tackle.

Kopczak’s subsequent medial knee ligament injury unfortunately robbed Wales of one of their few proven Super League forwards.

As well as they defended for long periods, their attempts to play fast and loose proved ill-advised against a scratch England side who steadily grew in confidence.

Richie Myler betrayed early signs of not having played since July, but the 19-year-old scrum half came more into the game alongside Tomkins, Super League’s young player of the year, who led Wales a merry dance with ball in hand but was also guilty of forcing too many passes in his eagerness.

Tomkins took Ben Westwood’s shovelled pass out wide after Elliot Kear lost possession coming out of defence. His footwork for his second try, a feature of his play for Wigan all year, left half-a-dozen Welshmen floundering. Tomkins also laid on the third try for the barnstorming Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, the Harlequins prop giving Geraint Davies little chance of stopping him beneath the posts.

Tomkins was the inevitable provider of a fourth try before the break, Burgess profiting from his stabbed kick that Kear failed to clear, although Lloyd White concluded the half with a penalty to keep Wales within the bounds of respectability.

Indeed, they added the first try after the resumption with contemptuous ease, after England lamentably failed to mark up and Ian Watson tapped a penalty and drove over. White’s conversion made it 12-20, before the Myler-Tomkins axis worked the ball wide for Sykes to provide Briscoe with a try at the corner.

As England finally turned the screw after the hour mark, the ubiquitous Tomkins threaded a kick for Sean O’Loughlin to pounce on for the sixth try. Morley thundered over and Briscoe and Tomkins added their respective second and third tries.

Star player: Sam Tomkins (England).

Scorers: Wales: Tries: Kopczak 1, Watson 48. Goal: White. England: Tries: Tomkins 5, 14, 75, McCarthy-Scarsbrook 26, Burgess 33, Briscoe 56, 70, O’Loughlin 61, Morley 67, Goals: Sykes 6.

WALES: E Kear; R Williams, R Griffiths, A Blackwood, A Bateman; L White, I Webster; J James, N Budworth, G Dudson, C Kopczak, B Flower (capt), G Davies. Replacements: I Watson, L Williams, R Divorty, M Barron.

ENGLAND: P Sykes; T Briscoe, M Shenton, S O’Loughlin, P Fox; S Tomkins, R Myler; A Morley (capt), S Moore, G Carvell, G Ellis, B Westwood, S Burgess. Replacements: L McCarthy-Scarsbrook, M Higham, D Tickle, C Bridge.

Referee: T Alibert (France).

Attendance: 3,249.