NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 15: Kallum Watkins (3L) of England celebrates with teammates after scoring their side’s fourth try during the Rugby League World Cup 2021 Pool A match between England and Samoa at St. James Park on October 15, 2022 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images for RLWC)
English coach Shaun Wane has lashed out at critics that claim that England has been given certain advantages in their run towards the World Cup trophy.
England has benefited from some longer turnarounds and a run to the final that conveniently sidesteps other heavyweight sides like Australia and New Zealand.
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 15: Kallum Watkins (3L) of England celebrates with teammates after scoring their side’s fourth try during the Rugby League World Cup 2021 Pool A match between England and Samoa at St. James Park on October 15, 2022 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images for RLWC)
When asked about these factors by Fox Sports Wane denied any allegations of favouritism towards the home nation.
“I’ve never heard that before, and I never thought I would hear that,” Wane said.
“I just don’t see where that comes from. The Aussies are playing Friday and we’re on Saturday, 24 hours later.
“So they’ll have an extra day in a steam room, nice and relaxed. They’ve got another 24 hours on us.
“I think the World Cup have done a great job. We’re changing hotels this weekend, travelling to London and we look at that as exciting.”
England will need to overcome Samoa once more this Sunday if they are to place in their second consecutive World Cup Final.
Despite handing down a 66 – 6 thrashing in the opening game of the tournament, Wane still approaches the match with an underdog mentality.
“We’ll have a guest speaker come talk to the boys this week about resilience and being the underdog, when people don’t expect you to do anything,” Wane continued.
“You look at Samoa and you know they’ve got six seven players that played in the NRL grand final.
“The NRL is a fantastic competition, it’s something which I look up to and learn a lot from and admire.
“We didn’t have anybody in our team (who played in the NRL grand final). So the fact is that on paper they’ve got some great players in the team, so does New Zealand and Australia so we do look at ourselves as underdogs.”
Source:: ZeroTackle
