28 October 2023 , 16:56
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Fuming Shaun Wane vowed his England side would go for the jugular as they ramped up their war of words with Tonga.
Warrington winger Matty Ashton made the most of his chance with two tries as his side sealed a series win against Kristian Woolf’s tourists. But riled England boss Wane insists that’s not enough and wants a 3-0 whitewash at Headingley next Saturday. He was miffed by Tonga comments from their 22-18 first Test defeat when they whinged about slow ruck speed and claimed England didn’t win the game, rather Tonga lost it.
Furious Wane admitted he had paper cuttings up in the dressing room ahead of the rematch in Huddersfield and fired: “Some of the things said this week from the opposition were disgraceful. That was a big driving factor for us. The lads are angry.
“All those comments, we spoke about them all week and it was a massive motivator for us. There's been posters all over our dressing room and it’s been my easiest day ever today. I was desperate to win that game and ram those things said about the players - my mates - as it really upset me.
"I’m really, really proud. They (Tonga) had every excuse - the ruck, our refs cheating, the ground - so we wanted to prove them wrong. But they wanted a firmer ground, got a firmer ground and still didn't win. It will be interesting to see what their next excuse is. Those comments were full-on so 3-0 is the important thing now. We want to finish the job next week."
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Pacey winger Ashton, 25, earned only his second Test appearance after starting in place of the injured Tommy Makinson. But he quickly showed what he can do with his first try in England colours on seven minutes courtesy of a wonderful Harry Newman pass. Ashton added his second in the 35th minute from Mikey Lewis’ clever grubber as Wane’s side built up a 12-0 interval lead, Harry Smith slotting a conversion and the first of his two penalties.
England's players look on as Tonga's players perform the Sipi Tau before the International Test Series match at John Smith's Stadium (PA)They never kicked on as they’d have liked in the second period when Tonga did step up a gear, star man Tolutua Koula eventually scoring in the 56th minute. But England, with Catalans prop Mike McMeeken again excellent off the bench and second-row John Bateman working his socks off, dug in to make sure there was no comeback. Tonga chief Woolf said: “We need to be more disciplined. We gave away too many errors and didn’t put enough pressure on the fifth tackle.
“We need to be squeaky clean. I thought it was a lot more even (ruck speed). With the naked eye it looked it. But we’re very disappointed with the series defeat.”