England should encounter fewer problems against Ireland

OF COURSE, with England playing Ireland today, it has got me thinking about the last meeting of the sides back in 2000.
Yorkshire Post World Cup columnist John Kear.Yorkshire Post World Cup columnist John Kear.
Yorkshire Post World Cup columnist John Kear.

It was the World Cup quarter-final at Headingley, I was in charge of England, we were losing at one point and things did get very twitchy before we won.

But – unlike today – we were actually tipped to lose. I remember Ian Millward, the St Helens coach at the time, saying that Ireland had the game to beat us. I used that in my build-up.

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I could understand it, though, as they had an outstanding team.

Ireland had people we wanted to play for England; State of Origin players like Kevin Campion, Luke Ricketson and David Barnhill. You could go all the way through their team. They were very strong. But I thought it was our best performance of the tournament. It was a hard match and very competitive. I don’t think it’ll be as close this time.

This England team is more balanced and better than the one we had in 2000 which was very young and inexperienced.

We didn’t have first call on a lot of players then but here this will be England’s strongest apart from Jack Reed and Sam Burgess.

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We approached Barrie McDermott, Terry O’Connor, Chris Joynt and Ryan Sheridan – we talked to them all but they all opted for Ireland.

I was surprised and a bit mystified if I’m honest. We’d already lost Jason Robinson to rugby union and we’d tried getting Keiron Cunningham and Lee Briers but they played for Wales. To be fair, they were established as Wales players – unlike those who jumped ship to Ireland at the last minute.

The international game didn’t have the kudos it has now, though, and that was something we had to go through to get to this point where we are at now.

Anyone doubting how important the international game really is to rugby league only has to look at how much exposure and attention this World Cup has already commanded.

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We all like a pop at the RFL and are quick to criticise but we have also got to be balanced with our viewpoints and pat them on the back at times like this when they do get things right.

There is no doubt in my mind that Nigel Wood and Sally Bolton have come up with the right venues and marketed the tournament very well, while the players themselves never let anyone down.

There’s been competitive games, full houses, lots of interest and intensity and, so, overall this first week has been a definite eight out of 10 so far.

The second half comeback of Samoa against New Zealand has been my highlight.

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The Kiwis looked very, very good in that first 20 minutes and people will have been worried they’d run away with it.

But Samoa got a try before half-time and in the second period really ripped in. Some of Mose Masoe’s kick-off returns were amazing. He was like a ten-pin ball and Saints fans should be really looking forward to watching him here next season.

In the end, Samoa got New Zealand a little twitchy and it was great to watch.

As for today, if you’re picking one player to watch out for you’ve got to look at Liam Finn.

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He’s a good kicker and the one downside about this tournament so far has been the poor goalkicking. If Samoa had kicked their goals it’d have been a lot closer against New Zealand.

If Papua New Guinea had a recognised kicker they’d have beaten France. Tonga were the same against Scotland.

It’s been surprising the lack of goalkicking quality. But that’s all.

n Interview by Dave Craven.