England boss Shaun Wane close to finalising 17 for Samoa as he waits on Mike McMeeken

The hosts warmed up for the tournament with an emphatic victory over Fiji last Friday to leave Wane with several selection headaches.

Wane saw his team come through the game largely unscathed and can call on the Super League Grand Finalists that missed out in Salford – Tommy Makinson, Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees and Mikolaj Oledzki.

However, there is some concern over the fitness of former Castleford Tigers forward Mike McMeeken.

"There are a couple of niggles but I more or less know what my best 17 is," said Wane.

"Mike McMeeken has got a knock so I'll be checking on him over the next few days. He's the main doubt."

Wane must decide whether to start Jack Welsby or Marc Sneyd alongside George Williams in the halves, while Ryan Hall, Tommy Makinson and Dom Young are competing for two wing spots.

The England boss is relaxed about delivering the bad news to the unlucky players as the weekend approaches.

"I've got three great wingers in Dom, Tommy Mak and Ryan but the two I believe are the best will play," said Wane.

"It's really, really simple. People ask if it's awkward selecting from my 24 but it's not. If you tell them the truth and look them between the eyes then you can't come unstuck.

"It will be an easy conversation when it happens."

Samoa are being billed as the favourites to win the St James' Park clash after assembling a star-studded squad packed with NRL talent.

Wane is confident England have the tools to hurt the physically imposing Samoans.

"Man for man they're 10-15 kilos heavier than us," he said.

"We need to be technically good. There are certain things we've been working on that we need to excel at. If we do that, we'll more than trouble them.

"It's game on. We'll challenge them and are English so we won't give in. We've always been the underdog and will be again this weekend. That's when we're at our best."

Wane's side have been written off in some quarters with high-profile Australian pundit Phil Gould going as far as saying that "England can't beat Samoa".

Experienced former Wigan Warriors boss Wane is paying little attention to the outside noise.

"He's entitled to think whatever he thinks," he said.

"We're in control of what we do. We performed OK against Fiji; it's a different challenge this weekend against a really good Samoan team with eight NRL Grand Finalists.

"We're going to need to be good to win, no question, but they're going to need to be good as well. It's going to be full on and I'm very confident my players are going to deliver."

Wane is viewing the tournament as an opportunity to showcase everything that is good about the sport.

"I love our game,” he said. “We’ve got the best game in the world, I genuinely believe that.

"The more people that see it the better. Every game is on the BBC, terrestrial TV, and I just want them to see the best of us.”