England head coach Shaun Wane has confirmed he will make at least two changes ahead of the second rugby league Ashes Test following his side’s poor performance at Wembley.
The Australians cruised to a 26-6 win in the first Test, the first rugby league Ashes Test since 2004 and with all that history and the hype in the build-up, the actual product failed to deliver.
Neither side were at their best but England were a long way behind with Australia looking to be in second gear, especially in the second-half.
Such a performance has seen suggestions of changes with fans, pundits, and even the Australian media calling for changes, and Shaun Wane has now confirmed that changes will come.
Speaking to the media ahead of the second Test at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, Wane spoke about the strength of his squad and said that all 24 players will be available for selection for Saturday’s Test.
“It’s a really good 24-man squad that we’ve got and there’s lots of players that could have played last week,” he admitted, in footage shared by BBC Radio Leeds.
“They’re all going to be available for selection this week as well.”
“Didn’t look like a Test match” – Shaun Wane set to ring the changes versus Australia
Pushed on whether he will make changes and how many, the England coach confirmed: “Yeah, a few.”
He explained that he’ll meet with the other England staff later today (Tuesday) to formulate that plan, before conceding that it’s a difficult situation given how little the players play with each other, meaning he can’t make huge wholesale changes.
Wane explained: “I’m going to see the coaches again and the players are coming in at 5 pm. We had a long day on Sunday so the players are having a couple more hours off this afternoon, hence why there’s no player with me now.
“They’ll come in at 5 o’clock and we’ll look into it about what we need to do and make sure the team is a lot more equipped.”
On finding the right balance in terms of change, he said: “It’s not easy trying to find that blend but at the end of the day I want a team to go out on Saturday and have it look like a proper Test match. It didn’t look like a proper Test match to me.
“It wasn’t physical, they were better in many areas so this week has to look like a real Test match and we need to give a better account of ourselves.
“Whether I make two or four changes, I’m not sure yet.”
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