Sam Tomkins praises the atmosphere at St James' Park in England's Rugby League World Cup opener

Shaun Wane’s side made an emphatic start to the tournament, beating Samoa 60-6 in front of a crowd of 43,119 at the home of Newcastle United.

Tomkins hopes England’s performance will help to inspire the next generation of players and encourage more people to buy tickets for their upcoming games.

"It was brilliant,” he said.

"When you play for England in your home country you want support, and today was by far the biggest I’ve ever felt.

"It felt like a real occasion, and like 45,000 people were screaming for England.

"It made a difference, you could hear after every time they announced the scorer, it was electric.

"As players you want to play on the big stages, and what makes them special is the big crowds.

"The Lionesses inspired the next generation of female football players, and we’ve got the opportunity to generate interest and inspire the next generation of rugby league players.

"Hopefully today has given people a bit more appetite to get behind us.”

Tomkins was pleased with the display England produced in their victory over Samoa.

A total of seven players went over for Wane’s side, including braces from Dom Young and Elliott Whitehead.

“I thought it was a very good performance,” he added.

"We understand we didn’t see the best Samoa team, but we did plenty of good things.

"I’m hoping the review will be positive, but that’s never a given.

"There were a lot of players, who if they got man of the match, we wouldn’t have been surprised.

"I thought George Williams was outstanding today.

"All the good things he did were stuff you guys might not notice, he really got hold of the team.

"He’s had a tough season with Warrington but this is an opportunity for him to show how good he is.”

England face France at the University of Bolton Stadium next Saturday in their second group game (K.O. 5pm), while Samoa face Greece the day after at the Eco-Power Stadium in Doncaster.