Hall hurries forward to the defence of England's backs

Ryan Hall is adamant the England backs will pull their weight in the Four Nations Series.

Warrington's Australian hooker Michael Monaghan has ruffled a few feathers in the England camp ahead of the looming encounters with Australia and New Zealand by claiming they lack the backs to make an impression.

"The English have a great forward pack but are lacking international quality in the key positions that decide big games – one, six, seven and nine," said Monaghan.

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Hall, the 22-year-old Leeds Rhinos winger, acknowledged that England's strength lies in their pack but he rubbished the claim that the back-line lacks a cutting edge.

Hall, the 2009 international rookie of the year who scored 23 tries in the Engage Super League that season, said: "You've got to be confident when you go into a game in an international tournament.

"Australia have obviously dominated for the last 40 years so it will be great for us to go out there and show what we can do.

"We've got the backs. It's just extra special up front and that's why they are getting so much attention. We'll see though. The backs will pull their weight, don't worry about that.

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"England's style of attack is different to Australia's but it's really exciting the way that the English lads play.

"We've got some special stuff that we can do and we'll have to see if we can pull it off."

England's pack will be up to its full complement tomorrow when Wigan prop Stuart Fielden arrives in Auckland after delaying his departure to be present for the birth of his first child.

The 31-year-old former Bradford Bulls favourite was given permission to stay behind when the rest of the squad left last Friday with his wife Sophie more than a week overdue.

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Fielden was due to fly out instead on Sunday but his wife did not give birth until Monday and he took a flight from Manchester yesterday.

Head coach Steve McNamara will assess Fielden's fitness on arrival before deciding whether to play him in Saturday's warm-up match against New Zealand Maori at Auckland's Mount Smart Stadium.

Hall is guaranteed a run-out against the Maori, having not played since Leeds were knocked out of the Super League play-offs at the semi-final stage nearly three weeks ago.

He is the Rhinos' only representative in McNamara's 24-man squad – a far cry from the situation in 2008 when Leeds had eight players on tour – after Kevin Sinfield joined Jamie Peacock and Danny McGuire on the injured list, and he is determined to do his country, and club, proud.

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"I'm proud to get in because I've been representing Leeds for the past 18 months," he added. "It will be nice to take on the Aussies and the Kiwis and see what they've got.

"The other teams who didn't impress that much last year have really come on this year, like Warrington and Wigan, and obviously they've been repaid by having good numbers in the set-up. I think they deserve that.

"There's three from Leeds that had ruled themselves out because of injuries but that's the way it goes.

"When you get injured, you've got to keep battling on. I was just fortunate that I didn't get injured and I'm still there so I've got to prove a point for Leeds this year.

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"We have a culture here where everyone's welcome with the England squad so it isn't that much of an issue.

"I'm sure I will be fine. I'm not at pre-school anymore and I have to get on with it."

England's players were on a rest day yesterday and were due to go out of Auckland Harbour on an Americas Cup yacht.