Shaun Wane rubbishes Aussie talk whilst naming team news ahead of Samoa Semi-Final

England Rugby League Head Coach Shaun Wane has today rubbished any talk of the Rugby League World Cup being ‘set up for England to win’.

The Question was put to the England coach during his pre-match conference ahead of their Semi-Final against Samoa which takes place at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

It is believed that Australia have had some difficulty finding a hotel in West-Yorkshire ahead of their Semi-Final against New Zealand on Friday night at Elland Road.

Following this, along with England’s kind schedule in terms of turnarounds, it is believed there are murmurs of beliefs that the tournament has been favourable to the host nation in more ways than one and the tournament is set up for England to win.

Speaking to the press on Wednesday afternoon, Wane said:

“I’ve never ever heard that before (that it’s set up for England). I never thought I would hear that to be honest.

“I don’t see where that would come from. The Aussies are playing Friday and we’re Saturday – that’s 24 hours extra in the steam room to recover.

“I think the World Cup organisers have done a great job in what they’ve done. Yeah, we’ve had seven-day turnarounds, but I don’t think any team can moan about changing hotels. We’re changing hotels this week by heading down to the capital, but we see that as exciting.

“We’ve got people coming in to speak to us, we’re going on a fantastic coach going to a fantastic hotel so we’re using it as a way of bringing us even closer a group and certainly not a negative like some people do.”

“I’m not interested in what people are saying about us. I’m just interested in our team run on Friday and I want us to get better and improve.

“The spirit we have in the group and how close we are as a group and coaches is the tightest I’ve ever felt in a group and I’ve been a part of some great sides at Wigan. There’s a family spirit and we use it every week to get even better.”

Ahead of the highly anticipated final four tie, many are expecting a much tighter affair than we see in the tournament opener in Newcastle as England blew Samoa away in the group stages winning 60-6 on that afternoon.

With a healthy and full fit squad to his disposal, Wane announced one change to the 19-man squad that breezed past Papua New Guinea in the quarter finals at the D.W. Stadium last Saturday.

Wane added: “We’re looking very strong. Matty Lees will be out of the 19 with Luke Thompson coming in but apart from that it’ll be the same as last week

“It’s down to selection. Matty (Lees) has done some good things, he’s a really good player and a really good kid but I’ve wanted to have a look at Luke Thompson. It’s a strong squad either way.”

With the pre-match press conference complete, Wane and his squad will travel down to London in preparation for the huge semi-final with England now within touching distance of their second consecutive World Cup final with high hopes that this year they can go one step further.

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