WORLD CUP WRAP #1 - Rimmer, Rain, the M60, Dom Young and Selection Headaches

England's preparations for the World Cup got underway last night with a comfortable 50-0 victory over Fiji. The 'warm-up' game probably felt anything but to anyone in attendance, who persevered through howling winds and driving rain.

Rimmer

Before the match, at 5:30PM to be exact, the RFL decided the ploy of trying to bury bad news last thing on a Friday, going to the Winchester for a nice cold pint and waiting for all of this to blow over by Monday morning.

By 'this', I mean the RFL's decision not to sanction its chief executive Ralph Rimmer for his disparaging comments about the Fiji national team. 

A report was commissioned by the far-from independent RFL chair Simon Johnson. A report that ran to 21-pages in length (yet has not been published), involved three independent experts (yet we were not told of their expertise or why they were needed).

Bafflingly, the RFL concluded because the comments were 'within the wider context of the World Cup' (quite what that has to do with anything I do not know) and offence was not intended, that no sanction was necessary. 

The incorrect use of the word 'fulsome' within the RFL's statement also riled the English pedant within me. I suppose there are bigger points though...

I anticipate that I would be far more frustrated had I been a player banned in recent years for using discriminatory language. Now, the RFL is of the view that 'education' is the way forward. I agree and have made the point previously. But it should be in addition to and not instead of sanction.

The Chief Executive of the RFL should be held to the highest of standards, not the lowest. I suppose we should be grateful that the RFL did not invoke the Bradford Bulls defence.

For the uninitiated, the Nigel Wood run Bradford were not fined for the homophobic language used by its supporters in a game against Newcastle but were permitted to profiteer from it by hosting a pride day instead. An event then praised by the RFL (the reason for its existence not mentioned).

Times like this make me glad we don't have a national profile. Because make no mistake, had the head of the FA, ECB or RFU made such comments, there would be nightly reports on the 10 o clock news until they resigned. If Rimmer had any degree of sense (or shame), he would have felt compelled to resign to stop overshadowing the tournament.

Fiji

Back to the match and before proceedings began, Fiji performed their pre-match ritual, the singing of the hymn 'noqu masu'. A hymn of inate beauty, performed by 17 strong men, their eyes wet with emotion with pride of representing their nation. It was an image of dignity, class and respect. 

It stood in stark contrast to the obfuscation and indignity of the governing body of the game in England and its actions over the course of the last week. 

On the field, Fiji were a major disappointment. They looked like a team who had just met. Many, myself included, expected a firm test for England to prepare for next week's clash against Samoa. This was more like a training run. Fiji will improve with more NRL reinforcements to link up with the squad. Boy, they're going to have to with Australia their opponents next Saturday!

Scheduling

I don't like to bash the RFL for no reason (I promise!) but I do think we could be smarter with the scheduling of England matches.

The Fiji team arrived on the last minute, as did many journalists and many fans continued to file in long after kick off. Anyone who has attempted to navigate the M60 on a Friday evening will feel their pain. A journey that should take minutes can take closer to an hour.

I cannot locate an attendance for Friday's match, but we know that two stands were closed. But based on stand capacity, there were 7,000 spaces available. Not every space was taken either.

It's all about the World Cup, I know, but we should have higher aims for England. I'd wager that if you took an England match outside the heartlands, say, to London, Bristol, Coventry to name but three, you would get a crowd at least equal to what we saw on Friday. 'England' sells in a way that our domestic teams will never to a new audience.

On top of that, you would take the game to a new audience. An audience that would appreciate seeing an England win far more than a heartland audience. Food for thought for IMG and the international game going forward.

Selection

What did we learn from England? In a no-contest, sometimes it's hard to learn. I didn't think this was the case last night though.

Tommy Makinson will almost certainly take one wing spot next week, leaving Dom Young and Ryan Hall to fight for the other. Dom Young's performance last night looks to have settled that debate.

I have seen little of Young since he moved to the NRL. In his few Super League appearances, he looked very much a player adjusting to the professional level. Now, he looks the part. A dangerous runner, an imposing presence and speed to burn. There's a lot to be excited about.

England's spine looked good too. Geroge Williams was influential, as he was for England against the Combined Nations All Stars in June. Maybe the perceived wisdom that his talent has plateaued is not correct and that he is instead a victim of a Warrington side that was inept in 2022?

I liked Jack Welsby at full back too. His link up play in attack was superb. It's a hard call either way, but would you pick Sam Tomkins at full back ahead of him? Tomkins is very experienced and a classy operator. If he's fit, he plays, that's a no-brainer. But it's clear he hasn't been fit for a while now. I worry that he may be going into this tournament firing on only one cylinder.

The England coach Shaun Wane has options, he could go Tomkins at full back and two of Williams, Welsby and Sneyd in the half back roles, or stick with what he went with on Friday night. It's not an easy call.

One Week to Go..

At the time of publishing, we're a little over one week to go before the World Cup begins with England facing Samoa at St James' Park in Newcastle.

Samoa will offer a far sterner test and enter the match as favourites amongst some bookmakers. With all matches live on the BBC, we have an opportunity to showcase our sport to the nation that we have never had before. The excitement starts here...