England Boss Wane Delivers Scathing Halftime Assessment
Courtesy of BBC Rugby League, 17th October 2022
England head coach Shaun Wane offered a scathing assessment of his team’s first-half performance against France during their 40-8 victory in Toulouse, according to assistant coach Andy Last.
The English side struggled in the opening quarter, falling 8-0 behind and lacking intensity. However, they recovered to take a lead by halftime and kept the French scoreless in the second half, ultimately securing a comfortable win.
Last revealed that Wane had messaged the coaching staff at the break to express his displeasure with certain aspects of England’s display in the first 40 minutes. “Shaun messaged our analyst at half-time and gave a couple of pointers with regard to some of the things that we needed to do a little bit better,” Last said.
“He wasn’t happy, obviously, with our contact in defence in that first half. We were a little bit loose in certain aspects. That message was delivered to the players at half-time.”
Last admitted that the disruption caused by Wane’s absence due to an ankle operation, as well as the travel issues the team faced en route to France, may have impacted their performance. “We’ve had a fair bit of disruption with flight issues, obviously Shaun’s issue with his ankle operation and it was a reflection of the week we’ve had,” he said.
Despite the poor start, the assistant coach was pleased with the team’s response and the experience gained by the four debutants. “I thought there were periods where we looked really, really strong and periods where we were a little bit off the mark and not quite at the level that we need to be at for England,” Last said.
“The four debutants did a solid job and they’ll have learned some experience and we’re happy we’ve come away from a Test match with a win.”
England will look to build on this victory as they prepare to face Samoa at the end of the season.
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