Humiliated England deserve ‘to cop’ criticism – Sinfield

England rugby league captain Kevin Sinfield admits his embarrassed World Cup squad are facing the toughest week of their careers.
England captain Kevin Sinfield reflects on defeatEngland captain Kevin Sinfield reflects on defeat
England captain Kevin Sinfield reflects on defeat

The Leeds Rhinos stand-off offered no excuses after England endured one of international rugby league’s biggest shocks by losing 15-14 to Italy in their World Cup warm-up game at Salford.

Their determined opponents, 1000-1 to win the tournament, secured a famous victory with Josh Mantellato’s 78th-minute drop-goal to leave the humiliated hosts visibly deflated.

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England face favourites Australia in their Group A opener at Cardiff on Saturday and will require a huge lift in performance to have any chance of success. Sinfield said: “For whatever reason we didn’t turn up.

“We didn’t play like we can and we’ve got a tough week in front of us.

“It’ll probably be the biggest week of our lives as players; we’re going to be tested now and we have to bounce back.”

The 32-year-old maintained he was not taken aback by the quality of Italy’s performance in a first meeting between the sides.

“I wasn’t shocked,” he said.

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“We are disappointed. We’d rather it be this week than next week, but we’d rather it be not at all.

“We have to hold our hands up and say we weren’t good enough (on Saturday).

“We’ll fix some things up this week. It’s going to be a tough week for us.

“We’re certainly going to cop some and probably justifiably as well. We’ll roll our sleeves up and get ready to work hard.”

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Today is the last opportunity for England coach Steve McNamara to make alterations to his 24-man squad.

He maintains he will stay loyal to the ones he has chosen.

But in the aftermath of Saturday’s sorry affair he conceded “there was some thinking to be done” when it comes to his side to face Australia.

The dismal performance certainly raised more questions than it provided answers.

However, like his captain, McNamara refused to seek mitigation and instead questioned the focus of his squad.

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“I just think our mentality was really wrong for this game,” he conceded.

“We were probably guilty of looking towards next week and we took our eye off this game.

“I don’t think we were fully focused but I’m sure we will be a whole lot better for it next week.

“It tests our resolve; it tests us about everything we’ve been speaking about over however many years and it’s time to put that into practice.

“It’s for real now and we have to respond.”

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Neither did McNamara hide behind the fact they only arrived back from their South African training camp three days before the game.

“We gambled on a long trip but they were absolutely fine,” he said. “They were fresh and ready to go.

“I am really disappointed. We’ve certainly not played anywhere near what we are capable of. That’s quite clear to see.”