Shaun Wane was more than content with the way he used Mikey Lewis during the second Test between England and Australia on Saturday.
Lewis started the first Test at Wembley but he was named on the bench this weekend, with Wigan Warriors’ Harry Smith coming into the side and getting the nod at scrum-half while skipper George Williams started at six.
As such, Lewis had to make do with just 10 minutes of game time on Saturday with the Hull KR man stepping into the fray to replace Jez Litten at hooker late in the action. While he did have a couple of bright moments in the contest, with his pace and strike with the ball in hand on show, his impact was limited as England lost 14-4 at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The decision to leave Lewis unused for so long has been questioned by supporters and after the game, Wane moved to explain his thought process.
Shaun Wane on Mikey Lewis role
“That’s enough for Mikey to make an impact,” Wane said. “We had it all set up beforehand about what minute he was going to go on and he covers us in quite a few positions but I’m happy with what we did there.”
The decision to move Lewis out of the halves and onto the bench was one of a number of changes made by Wane for the second Test with AJ Brimson starting over Jack Welsby at full-back and Kallum Watkins playing in the back-row while both Mikolaj Oledzki and Morgan Smithies got game time off the bench.
Hull KR star Jez Litten was another to step into the starting line-up, with Daryl Clark dropped, and the hooker was one of those praised by Wane after the game.
“I thought Mike McMeeken was good,” Wane said. “Mik Oledzki did well when he came on, Jez Litten started the game for us and I thought he was very good. I was happy with a lot of the things we did, it’s just that first 10 minutes (after the break) and the switch off. It made it quite easy for them.
Asked specifically about the performance of Brimson on his England debut, Wane added: “I think he can do more.
“He did some good things but not enough, I want him to get more involvements but he’s a great kid and a great player in a system that he’s not used to. He did some good things but I need more.”
