Wane must address key issue if England are to lift 2025 Rugby League World Cup

03 March 2023 , 20:30

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Shaun Wane will coach England through to the next Rugby League World Cup (Image: AFP/AFP via Getty Images)

When England play France next month, I do think it’s time to look to the future.

Shaun Wane has been confirmed as continuing as head coach until the 2025 World Cup. And he now slowly but surely has to move beyond the ageing players that featured heavily in the last one. I don’t think Wane should not pick them all at once. They have to be phased out as you still need some experience.

Sam Tomkins is nearly 34 and there’s a lot of talk about Jack Welsby taking over as England No1. But Sam should certainly do another year. He’s probably the key. From my experiences dealing with Sam, he’s a very, very good pro’, very smart within the game and is good at passing on his knowledge so he’d be one of the last you’d move on.

But I’d love to see Kai Pearce-Paul face France and really see what he can do. And George Williams will have a lot of responsibility going forward. He’ll be one of the few players going into the 2025 World Cup in France with vast experience.

Lastly, it’s great the RFL had an investigation into what happened at the World Cup and reviewed everything before reappointing Wane. But what are the key findings?

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As stakeholders in the sport, I feel we’ve a right to know: why did England lose that semi-final against Samoa and tank compared to when they faced them in the opener? We still don’t know if the review’s answered this or not as - unlike in other sports - none of it is made public.

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