Head coach Shaun Wane has challenged England’s players to force their way into his World Cup side as he makes bold changes to play France on Saturday.
Wane confirmed after their stunning opening win over Samoa that all seven players left out of that side will be given an immediate opportunity against the French in Bolton, and revealed today that he has demanded a big improvement despite their thumping 60-6 win.
“There is no getting away from what we did,” Wane told The Sportsman at England’s training headquarters in Wigan.
“We completed very high and didn’t give many penalties away. But we need to do it again this Saturday, I want better discipline and fewer penalties, no errors.
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“I’m looking for a better performance.
“There are certain standards that we want to get better at in attack and defence, certain England standards.
“There were things I thought we could do better so I’ve had some very honest chats with the players who have come up with some detail on what we can improve on.
“It wasn’t all positive, there were a few issues in defence where we can do better.”
Wane says it was not his plan to make wholesale changes to a supremely well-drilled outfit that tore apart one of the tournament favourites in Newcastle, with half-backs Jack Welsby and George Williams excelling and flying winger Dom Young underlining his frightening talent with a two-try display.
But given the spectacular nature of his side’s performance, Wane now feels comfortable in changing over half the team for game two.
“The team I picked for Samoa was very difficult, the players I didn’t pick were in really good form. They weren’t easy conversations so I want to see this week if our performance can improve,” he said.
“What did impress me was the response of the players, how all 24 have adapted and care passionately about their country.
“This week this is their chance and then the Greece game, and then hopefully the quarter-finals when it will be fair game. Whoever is playing well and whoever I’m convinced will get us the win in the quarter-final will play.”
Opponents France have spoken this week of their own humble make-up and Wane says that is a quality he has instilled in his squad too.
“One thing we will not do is get carried away. We beat a Samoa team well in a pressure game but they were under-done and not really firing. They can play miles better than that.
“We won’t be walking around patting each other on the back saying well done. There was a lot of pressure in that game and nobody expected us to win apart from within this group. So to perform the way we did and to get people buying tickets on the back of that performance is really encouraging.
“Players love playing in front of big crowds and it’s going to be sold out this weekend and hopefully again in Sheffield for Greece.”
Wane says he has watched every single game of the tournament so far and was asked by The Sportsman if he has seen anything better so far than what his own side has produced. There was no mention of tournament favourites Australia.
“I thought New Zealand were very, very good and Lebanon had a good dig at them.
“But I thought we were outstanding. Very consistent and completed very high. We just need to do it again.”
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