England : Smith: Great feeling

[josie andrews]

* Harry Smith described the ‘great feeling’ of being called up to England’s 20-player squad to face France this weekend.

* Smith: “I’m buzzing as it’s a great feeling to be picked to represent England again.”

* France v England, Saturday 29 June, 5pm (BST).

HARRY SMITH DESCRIBED THE ‘GREAT FEELING’ OF BEING CALLED UP TO ENGLAND’S 20-PLAYER SQUAD TO FACE FRANCE IN TOULOUSE THIS WEEKEND.

The half-back, who was named the Player of the Series in England’s triumph over Tonga last Autumn, is one of four Warriors to be selected in Shaun Wane’s squad to take on France at the Stade Ernest-Wallon on Saturday evening.

Speaking on his call up, Smith said: “I’m buzzing as it’s a great feeling to be picked to represent England again. It’s exciting at any time to be able to play for your country and I’m looking forward to getting out with all the lads this weekend. Hopefully we’ll play well in France and get the job done.”

Smith joined the rest of the squad at Robin Park Arena on Wednesday morning where England will train in preparation for the clash in Toulouse.

On settling into camp, Smith said: “At first it can be a bit different as you haven’t been in each others company before but everyone is here because they’re top professionals and top lads. It’s great when you train and play with the best players as it improves your game which is what I like about being with England.”

Tyler Dupree, Luke Thompson and Brad O’Neill, who if selected will make his England debut, have been named in the squad alongside Smith.

On playing alongside teammates on the international stage, Smith said: “It’s brilliant as all the lads have earnt this – especially Brad who has been playing really well. I’m looking forward to playing with him at this level as we’ve played alongside each other a lot so he knows how I like to play and vice versa.”

England’s four Warriors could come up against Club teammate Tiaki Chan at the Stade Ernest-Wallon after the forward was named in France’s 22-player squad for the fixture.

On facing Chan, Smith said: “It would be brilliant but a bit strange as we’ve spent most the year training alongside each other. Tiaki is a great lad and I’m sure as Wigan lads we’ll all be looking to get stuck into each other this weekend.”

Focusing on the opposition, Smith said: “We are expecting a real test against a very strong French team. We know the crowd will be on top of us and that France will be at their best so it’s important we all do our jobs to make sure we come out on the right side of the result.”

Saturday’s international double-header in Toulouse, which includes England Women’s clash against France Women (2:30pm K.O.), will be streamed live on SuperLeague+.

https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2024/06/ ... t-feeling/

[josie andrews]

England v France squads

England:

Ben Currie
George Delaney
Tyler Dupree
Ash Handley
James Harrison
Tom Johnstone
Matty Lees
Mikey Lewis
Jez Litten
James McDonnell
Elliot Minchella
Harry Newman
Matty Nicholson
Brad O’Neill
Harry Smith
Luke Thompson
Jack Welsby
George Williams
Oliver Wilson
Sam Wood

France
Lambert Belmas
Julian Bousquet
Tiaki Chan
Alrix Da Costa
Jordan Dezaria
Theo Fages
Benjamin Garcia
Mickael Goudemand
Enzo Griffier
Matthieu Laguerre
Franck Maria
Hakim Miloudi
Arthur Mourgue
Romain Navarrete
Arthur Romano
Cesar Rouge
Hugo Salabio
Justin Sangare
Paul Seguier
Maxime Stefani
Ugo Tison
Fouad Yaha.

Women’s squads: England v France

England coach Stuart Barrow and France boss Romain Maillot have confirmed their respective squads, as follows below:

England:

Caitlin Beevers
Keara Bennett
Jodie Cunningham
Anna Davies
Amy Hardcastle
Zoe Harris
Georgie Hetherington
Shona Hoyle
Zoe Hornby
Katie Mottershead
Izzy Northrop
Eboni Partington
Isabel Rowe
Emily Rudge
Erin Stott
Bella Sykes
Paige Travis
Liv Wood
Vicky Whitfield


France

Elisa Akpa
Louane Baby
Leila Bessahli
Stecy Bessiere
Lisa Diraison
Chahrazad Himoudi
Haoua Kessely
Tallis Kuresa
Helene Leclerc
Perrine Monsarrat
Pauline Noe
Mahault Apple Tree
Perle Ramazeilles
Justine Roses
Manon Samarra
Noemie Samuel
Salome Segala
Cristina Song Puche
Amael Vilanove

[josie andrews]

Shaun Wane to miss England Test match after surgery complications

The England head coach will not travel to France for the mid-season international.

Shaun Wane will not travel to France For England's mid-season international this weekend. The England head coach is recovering from unexpected surgery on Tuesday evening which means he will miss Saturday's game.

It's news that will devastate Wane, a passionate coach who last week spoke of his excitement at getting together with his group of players for the first time since the successful Test series whitewash of Tonga last autumn.

Assistant coach Andy Last has been taking charge of training since Wane's unavailability and will continue taking on those duties while Wane is unable to be present.

The timing of this is rubbish for us all," Last said. "He's a huge personality, he's the leader of this England team and one of his biggest strengths is the team spirit he creates, and he leads that from the front with his passion and emotion. It's a big hole to fill, nobody can fill the hole Shaun leaves, and he's gutted; the timing couldn't have been worse."

Last added: “He’s just coming round from his operation. By all accounts that’s gone well and they’ve dealt with the infection and the complications which we had from initial op, that’s been resolved.

He’s on the road to recovery and looking forward to watching us from his hospital bed. Hopefully we put in a strong performance for him to be proud of.”

Wane will, however, remain actively involved from afar and is still having an input on training sessions and team selection.

The way things have worked so far, before the sessions I’ve spoken to Shaun and we’ve discussed the session, planned the session and the content of session.

And after the session we’ll review and discuss things, and he’s got access to it via the application we use and the analysts provide him with footage of training. He’s still got his finger on the pulse, and on game day, I’m sure he’ll give us some tips beforehand. But he’s confident in myself and the rest of the coaching staff to get the job done and I'm sure he'll be the first person we speak to after the game."

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/r ... st-9373108

[Mike]

I hope Waney's OK. Terrible timing as this is bascially all the prep-time he gets with the team playing a game.