Shaun Wane hails performance of Dom Young in England’s rout of Fiji before Rugby League World Cup
Young scored one try and laid on two more as England won their final World Cup warm-up fixture
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Your support makes all the difference.England coach Shaun Wane singled out Dom Young after watching his side flex their muscles for the World Cup with a 50-0 rout of Fiji in Salford.
The 22-year-old Newcastle Knights winger scored one of England’s nine tries and laid on others before half-time for his centre Kallum Watkins and captain George Williams to press his case for inclusion in the tournament opener against Samoa at St James’ Park next Saturday.
With right winger Tom Makinson set to face Samoa after being rested for the warm-up game, Young is thought to be vying with veteran Ryan Hall for the left-wing spot and Wane says his mind is mind up, admitting the former Huddersfield player has “a good chance”.
“I thought Dom was good,” Wane said. “He carried the ball strong and his skill was good. Overall it was a great first game for him.
“He’s done some outstanding things with Newcastle this year but the thing that impressed me most was his carries out of yardage – that troubled Fiji.
“He’s been great in camp as well, he’s fitted in well, I’ve been impressed by him.
“It definitely makes my selection harder. It’s going to be a good week this week, I’m looking forward to it.
“All three are great wingers, that’s my job (to pick two), have to win that game next Saturday.
Williams was also impressed by the young newcomer, saying: “He’s a freak of nature, big, strong fast. He set me up for a try so I owe him one.”
England led 28-8 at the break and, although they lost some cohesion after Wane emptied the rest of his bench, the coach was well satisfied with the display and said the squad had emerged injury free.
“It was very impressive with the conditions and players not knowing each other that well,” he said. “Some of the skill we showed was really impressive.
Some of the skill we showed was really impressive
“Our defence was good. They’re a big physical team, although I know they had quite a few missing, but we very patient with the ball.”
Fiji, who had former Leeds boss Brian McDermott in their coaching box, were semi-finalists in each of the last four tournaments but will need a drastic improvement if they are to trouble Australia in their opening game next Saturday.
They rarely looked capable of breaching England’s watertight defence and their misery was compounded by injuries to Brandon Wakeham, Joseph Ratuvakacereivalu and Kylen Miller.
“There’s not much to take out of it,” admitted McDermott, who says he was asked by Fiji coaching director Dave Furner to step in in his absence to provide valuable experience to the backroom team.
“England were very good. We gave them some opportunities but they exploited them really well. They’re in good shape.
“I’ll look at it again to see if there are any positives but they’re hurting. It was a really disappointing performance and they know it.
“If that’s how ugly we can be, we work on that. It’s important we stick together. In my short time with the players, it’s a very tight group and they’re loyal to each other.
“I stepped in with not much notice but in a few days I’ve found it’s a fantastic group, who work incredibly hard and I’m looking forward to the next few weeks.”