Kallum Watkins has admitted he has probably not played his best for England in the past, but feels the 2017 World Cup was a turning point for him.
Watkins and Jermaine McGillvary formed a lethal right flank for England during the tournament, helping the team into the final with four consecutive wins and a brave performance against Australia at Suncorp Stadium. After a gutting end where England was terribly close to a breakthrough World Cup victory, in an amazing 80 minutes, Watkins was a mixture of emotions.
“I’ve probably in the past not done justice in that shirt and it’s the ultimate,” he said.
“It’s a dream come true playing for England. I felt that I needed to be better. This World Cup was an opportunity for me and I felt like I’ve done pretty well. I’m pretty pleased, but at the same time it’s all about winning. It’s all about lifting that trophy and we haven’t. I’m really, really disappointed. On a personal note I’ll take some positives, but at the same time there’s still a lot things to work on to improve as a player. I’ve still got plenty of time to do that.”
Watkins was understandably dejected after coming so near to World Cup glory. But the Leeds centre was also proud of the courage, effort and heart that England as team, who were missing captain Sean O’Loughlin and hooker Josh Hodgson, demonstrated in the final. It was the gutsiest display by an England side for some time.
“I’m just immensely proud of the guys and their efforts,” the 26-year-old said said.
“We had them on the rack in the back of that second half but we just needed to take our opportunities. They scrambled well to stop our plays. It’s just devastating for the guys. We performed really, really well. We had the opportunity to win the game but we just couldn’t get the result. They hung on in the end.
““I think we’ll be closer than ever through this journey, through this World Cup. It showed there that it could have gone either way. We competed with the best and it’s a credit to all the guys and all the staff, Wayne as well.”
Watkins believes the England squad needs to go away, learn from their World Cup experience and come back bigger and stronger next year. England will play New Zealand in a three-match Test series at the end of 2018 and there is also talk of the national team playing a mid-season Test, possibly in the United States.
“It’s a long way but we can focus on other stuff, back at club level with Leeds and the test series against New Zealand next year as well,” he said.
“It’s going to be hopefully a great year. I’m going to work my socks off. It’s a big goal to repeat what we’ve done this year and try and be successful. We have to move on now and focus on next season.”
