Disjointed England fall to a disappointing narrow defeat to Tim Sheens’ All Stars

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England were fractious and underwhelming as they lost by 26-24 at home to a hastily organised Combined Nations All-Stars.

There was a sea of controversy heading into this game, with some labelling this game as a ‘farce’ , with others furious at the effect that this mid-season friendly may have on their club’s Super League results. Surprisingly, the Super League schedule was not altered due to an already short postseason window prior to the World Cup. 

Remarkably, this was Shaun Wane’s first game in charge of England, a mere 20 months after being appointed. This was the first of just two games Wane would have before the World Cup opener, the other being a warm-up friendly against Fiji at Rochdale in October. This was to be an audition of sorts, and a chance for players to stake their claim at the English World Cup shirts. 

There were of course many implications to this game, none more important than raising money for the fabulous work of the Mose Masoe foundation. Many players will have had a point to prove, none more so than Jackson Hastings, who has since been omitted from the England picture. Jermaine McGillvary and Jake Connor will also have had points to prove to Shaun Wane having being left out, and consequently in the opposing team. 

Sam Tomkins is, without a doubt, an English Rugby League legend, and has given so much to the game. Since moving his career to the south of France, he seems to have gained a second wind and was rewarded in this game with the captaincy, the first time he’s ever captained his country. It’s a good job Shaun Wane made it worthwhile for him too, as he had to drive all the way up to Warrington from Perpignan due to a private jet not being available. 

The Match…

Perhaps rather surprisingly, the start to this game was played at breakneck speed, with some big hits coming in early on from both sides. With their first attack of the game, the All-Stars set the precedent and altered the scripts as they went over for the first score of the game. Jake Connor put his early stamp on the game with an excellent looping pass to Salford’s Ken Sio who went over in the corner to silence the Warrington crowd. 

It didn’t take long for England to respond though, as Liam Farrell exemplified his blistering pace to score England’s first of the evening. Mike Cooper was able to find a good offload to debutant Paul McShane, who carried strongly before an inside ball to Liam Farrell. The Wigan man left Jake Connor for dead before going over to level the scores up until Warrington’s own Stefan Ratchford gave England a narrow lead with the conversion. That try would have felt good for a returning Farrell, who hadn’t appeared in an England shirt since he scored against Scotland in the Four Nations in 2016. 

After waiting so long for one, two came at once for Liam Farrell, as he extended England’s lead just moments later. Castleford bound Joe Westerman capitalised on a set restart and found a brilliant offload to Luke Gale, he played the short ball into Farrell allowing him to spin over the line. 

The All-Stars were able to stop the rot with a sensational defensive play from Ken Sio. England were scrambling to get away from their own line but the Aussie winger hauled Tom Davies into touch. This gave the All-Stars some tremendous field position, such field position that wasn’t to be wasted. Tim Sheens’ makeshift side were patient and shifted the ball cross-field before it eventually found its way to Peter Mata’utia, who bulldozed over for the All Stars’ second try of the game.

The Samoan scored his first try for over a year against Wakefield whilst playing for Castleford two weeks ago, but was able to bag another here in his bid to be a part of the Samoan World Cup setup. 

One thing that both Shaun Wane and the array of club managers with an invested interest in this game didn’t want to see, was injuries. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what they did see as John Bateman was hauled down and fell awkwardly, injuring his ankle in the process. 

Another rather surprising feature of this game is that it was relatively low scoring considering the sort of game it was. A midseason International, with both sets of players having an awful lot to prove, whilst also trying to avoid injury at the same time. This, however, most likely dictated the decision for Aidan Sezer to kick for goal with a penalty on the half-hour mark, levelling the scores in the process. 

For a game of Rugby League that would officially be listed as a ‘friendly’, there were some brutal hits from both sets of players. Whilst entertaining for the spectators, I’m sure this wouldn’t have made some of the Super League coaches too happy. Ash Handley was another victim of the physicality, going off with a head injury late in the first half and subsequently failing his HIA. Moments before the hooter Joe Westerman came in with a high tackle, allowing Sezer to kick the All-Stars into a narrow halftime lead. 

The second half started with another statement from an Englishman, this time it was Jermaine McGillvary. Mata’utia expertly stripped the ball from Liam Farrell and distributed it to the Huddersfield Giants man, who stepped inside and beat two England players before diving over. The 33-year-old had started England’s last 17 matches, scoring 12 tries in the process, and this try will certainly give Shaun Wane a selection headache. 

Morgan Knowles hauled the home side back to within one score, as Luke Gale drew in the defender and played the ball to the St.Helens man just at the perfect time for Knowles to break the line and stroll over. Sio then re-established the lead as he went over for his brace in a controversial fashion. Former Great Britain international Jackson Hastings put up a testing high kick, which seemingly came off the fingers of fellow Englishman Jake Connor, going forward in the process.

The ball then clipped Tom Davies’ arm before bouncing rather fortunately off the head of Kenny Edwards, directly into the path of Sio to touch the ball down. It was checked by the video referee, but they did not deem the ball to have made contact with Jake Connor, and thus did not give the knock-on and the try was awarded. A controversial decision, and one that knocked the stuffing out of England. 

England took a while to kick back into gear but hauled themselves back into the game as Tommy Makinson put pressure on McGillvary as he was trying to gather a kick, and subsequently forced a knock-on. The ball was excellently recycled, and England remained patient until Reece Lyne found Tomkins’ Catalan teammate Tom Davies who could go over for a debut try. 

This try brought England to within just two points, but the All-Stars showed that this was more than just a friendly to them by defending valiantly, including some sensational defence from Peter Mata’utia. The Samoan was able to force Tommy Makinson into touch over in the corner whilst simultaneously preventing the offload, and thus closing the game out for the All-Stars. The final score was a disappointing 24-26 loss for England. 

All in all, England looked incredibly disjointed, and a long way from the team that Shaun Wane will hope can give a real good go at winning their home World Cup. Once again it is understandable that England may have lacked fluidity, due to not playing together for almost three years. But when you consider that Tim Sheens had to really work hard to scrape this All-Stars team together at incredibly short notice, it puts this loss into perspective for England. 

Without a doubt, there was an array of talent in this All-Stars team, and they showcased that in this game. Every player did also have a point to prove, with the likes of Jake Connor and Jermaine McGillvary giving new coach Shaun Wane something to think about with their performances. 

There were a number of other players who certainly didn’t do themselves any harm, with Ken Sio being another standout performer from the All-Stars setup. 

Ultimately, one would assume that the England side to start against Samoa at St.James’ Park in the World Cup curtain-raiser will be rather different to the one that lined up tonight. There will be plenty of clambering for places for the remainder of the Super League season, and we may even see some of the All-Stars from this game line up in an England jersey next time out.

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