England hope to wrap up an historic test series with a win at Headingley, after sealing a series win with a 14-4 victory last time out, England are hoping to whitewash their opponents, 3-0.
Head Coach Shaun Wane insists that the side is fully motivated and won’t be taking the final test lightly: “The motivation to finish the series with a 3-0 win is high,
“I stand by everything I’ve said,
“I can’t wait for Saturday now.”
Wane has also admitted that England have some areas to improve upon since October 28 ahead of the final game: “They made a few line-breaks and we defended poorly and we have to get better at that so there’s areas where we can improve in,
“I was happy with how courageous we were and we’ll be better on Saturday,
“We have to win Saturday and it’ll mean a lot to us. My players are obsessed with winning this game.”
“Massive game this week”
England and Leeds Rhinos centre Harry Newman also spoke about how much the game means to the England set up, “It’ll be special but we need and want that win and to make it 3-0 will be massive,
“The lads have enjoyed every minute and we’re looking forward to what’s to come with a massive game this week and then going into next year,
“The first game I knew was going to be tough and it was the most physical game I’ve ever been involved in and it’s a challenge but we’ve come together and dominated them in two tests and that’s what we’re looking to do again.”
“It’ll be fantastic for England Rugby League”
Wane also spoke about how big of an impact a whitewash of Tonga could have on Rugby League across the country, “Tonga are (ranked) fifth and with a lot of great athletes in the NRL, I watch the NRL and I’m fully aware of the strengths they have in their team,
“The way my lads have performed and stood up to them and shown physicality has been great to see and it’s what I’m most proud of,
“It’ll be fantastic for England Rugby League to finish the series undefeated.”
The attendances of the previous two matches have raised some talking points with there only being 11,210 fans attending the previous match, below what the Rugby Football League (RFL) had hoped for.
Wane is hoping however for a bigger turnout at Headingley this Saturday, “The game at Huddersfield, the crowd wasn’t great but it was bad weather but in the World Cup it was fantastic so we get a good result on Saturday and the crowd will be behind us and it will be a different set up next year.”
Head of media at England Rugby League, Andrew Donnelly also spoke about the attendances in rugby League, “Attendances are up across the board this year, which is fantastic,
It’s double figures as well so we’re really pleased with that, and that applies to the Championship as well so there is life outside of Super League. We’re building momentum in the international game and we want to be an international force.”
“Inspiring the next generation”
England women’s captain, Jodie Cunningham also spoke about the rise in attendances in the women’s game and how exciting it is to see more people attending women’s matches: “It was amazing to see and a dream come true moment to stand there and see a packed stadium,
“It was packed full of loads of young girls as well which is really exciting and hopefully we are inspiring the next generation,
“So many people got behind us and we hope they all come out again.”
Cunningham also spoke about the need to keep the women’s game growing: “The women’s game is the biggest area of growth in Rugby League,
“We all know the challenges that sport and rugby league face and actually the women game has a chance to get new audiences in. If you look at the Women’s Super league grand Final, there is a big appetite for it,
“We’re getting there on the field, we just need to get their off the field.”
The women’s side also play on Saturday against Wales at Headingley stadium.
