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England v Tonga Test Series 2023

Perth Red

Perth Red

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Try telling Shaun Wane there is nothing to play for next Saturday in Leeds. His England side have been superior in the opening two Tests of this series with Tonga so a 2-0 advantage with one to play is a fair reflection of the contest so far.

But the notion of the final game at Headingley being a dead rubber is very much out of the question. Wane, one of the most demanding coaches there is, would not accept that mentality in any ordinary scenario, let alone where he and his players have clearly taken personal offence to comments made by the Tonga head coach, Kristian Woolf, and their captain, Addin Fonua-Blake, in the aftermath of last Saturday’s opening match at St Helens. Woolf bemoaned the quality of the pitch and the speed of the ruck while Fonua-Blake claimed England did not win the opening Test, Tonga lost it.

They are far from extraordinary comments but they clearly irked Wane – to the extent that he wasted little time after securing the series in setting the record straight. “I was absolutely desperate to win that game today – it really upset me,” he said of the comments made by Woolf and Fonua-Blake. “They showed disrespect to my players. I’ll be interested to see what their next excuse is.”

England were once again comfortably the better of the sides. In quintessentially English conditions, with non-stop rain making for difficult ball-handling, they managed things better. Tonga turned over possession on too many occasions, including in one or two promising positions of attack while the game was in the balance.

www.theguardian.com

Ashton double helps England set record straight with series win over Tonga

Matty Ashton’s two tries helped England to a 14-4 win over Tonga in Huddersfield and secure victory in the series with a game to spare
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
Perth Red

Perth Red

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England players have taken fans inside the fiery team meetings that led to a series victory over Tonga followed by a television tirade from coach Shaun Wane.

An international audience was left stunned when Wane labelled comments by Mate Ma’a Tonga in the lead-up to the second Test - won 14-4 by the host nation at John Smiths Stadium - “disgraceful” in a sustained outburst on TV.

England’s Chris Hill appeared to to be separated at full-time from Tonga’s Addin Fonua-Blake, who had said after the first Test “we lost the game ourselves, I don’t feel like they beat us".

Wane told BBC at full-time: “After the things what have been said about us this week from the opposition, some of it was disgraceful.

“They wanted a firmer ground, they got a firm ground. They didn’t win. That was a big driving factor this week, some of the things that were said.

“We don’t do what they do. We’ve got our own way of having spirit... the lads are angry about it, that we didn’t win, we didn’t deserve it... all them comments. That was a massive motivator for us and we want to finish this off next week.

“All those comments were full on, so 3-0 is the most important thing.”

NRL.com approached several England players in a bid to understand Wane’s clear animosity toward the tourists. On TV, halfback Harry Smith said most of the build-up had been relaxed but on match eve the coach had made an issue of Woolf and Fonua-Blake’s quotes.

Winger Tom Johnstone said: “This week we came in with due respect, we gave them what we thought they deserved. We felt it wasn’t quite reciprocated in certain areas, with some of their comments after the game.

“It’s a Test match. To come out and say you didn’t lose it, you let the other team win and other things like that … it’s a bit disrespectful to the other team that’s just put in a performance.”

www.nrl.com

'We don't do what they do': Wane backs English way after series win

England players have taken fans inside the fiery team meetings that led to a series victory over Tonga followed by a television tirade from coach Shaun Wane.
www.nrl.com www.nrl.com
 
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Wb1234

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Looks like the rfl will take a financial hit from this series

they had budgeted for aggregate crowds of 50k for this series and with 15 to 18k expected at headingly will fall far short of this total

this could mean they can’t afford for samoa to tour next year and will have to wait for nz of Australia to tour
 
Perth Red

Perth Red

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Wb1234 said:
Looks like the rfl will take a financial hit from this series

they had budgeted for aggregate crowds of 50k for this series and with 15 to 18k expected at headingly will fall far short of this total

this could mean they can’t afford for samoa to tour next year and will have to wait for nz of Australia to tour
Click to expand...
Link?
 
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NRLMad

Juniors
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Agree with below. They’ll get paid better and stay in the sport. Why play rugby - it’s boring. As the nrl gets richer and more options are available, we will see even more players come over. Good overall for England.
titoelcolombiano said:
That's the main advantage England will still have over the improving Pacific nations. SL is able to produce world class spine players.

Even though it's not ideal for SL, it's probably best for the England team, and as a result the English game overall that the best of the best English players are in the NRL being backed up by a strong SL for development.
Click to expand...
 
Perth Red

Perth Red

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Wb1234 said:
One In lancs Wigan
One in yorks Leeds
Then one expansion so London Manchester or Newcastle
Click to expand...
Still, waiting for a link to the break even gate figure. Which orifice did you pull that out of?

Manchester expansion area? Have you heard of Salford?
 
Perth Red

Perth Red

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Wb1234 said:
It’s a city

ilovemanchester.com

Manchester and Salford: so what’s the difference?

Lots of out of towners don’t get the difference between Manchester and Salford. Stephen Lewis understands why
ilovemanchester.com ilovemanchester.com

So Wigan is part of Manchester too ?
Click to expand...
Haha you’d argue black is white rather than admit you are wrong.
Is Salford in greater Manchester? Yes. Is Manchester a rugby league expansion area? No. End of argument.

old Trafford to Salford is 3kms Ffs!
Or maybe as old Trafford is In Trafford rather than manchester cbd you don’t consider that Manchester either?
 
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Wb1234

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Perth Red said:
Haha you’d argue black is white rather than admit you are wrong.
Is Salford in greater Manchester? Yes. Is Manchester a rugby league expansion area? No. End of argument.
Click to expand...
Did you hear about Manchester rangers ?
I’m guessing no
 
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