26 October 2023 , 08:00
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Miffed England boss Shaun Wane says his victorious side felt insulted by Tonga’s comments after their first Test defeat and they’ll be fired up for the re-match.
The hosts hope to seal a series win when they take on the tourists in Saturday’s second Test at Huddersfield. And fuel’s been added to the fire after Tonga coach Kristian Woolf and captain Addin Fonua-Blake both complained about the ruck speed in Sunday’s 22-18 opening defeat. They argued referee Liam Moore let England defenders slow the tackle down on average more than a second longer than their own side which thwarted their attack.
Wane last night responded and insisted: “I was shocked at those comments about the ruck. I was amazed as it’s not the way I saw it. But they can say what they want. Our players don’t say things like that but if that’s the way they want to behave then that’s up to them.
“Our players were a bit shocked. It was a bit insulting to us. But it’s been said and we’ll deal with it. We just don’t do that sort of thing. We are preparing to make sure they see the best of us on Saturday.”
Moore’s fellow Englishman Jack Smith will officiate this weekend’s game in a decision made before the series kicked off. Asked if he thinks Tonga’s comments would impact the way the game is refereed, Wane said: “I certainly hope not. I spoke to the referees and I’d be really disappointed if it did. I thought the referees were good. And it was factually wrong what they (Tonga) said. Our times have proved that. I checked with our analysts and the official RFL stats and they were factually wrong.”
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Meanwhile, Wane says he has no qualms throwing Matty Ashton into battle against Tonga. He revealed the Warrington winger will play on Saturday after St Helens flier Tommy Makinson suffered a wrist injury. Wane will make at least two changes with Wigan skipper Liam Farrell also coming in for the injured Saints loose forward Morgan Knowles.
Ashton, 25, made his England debut in April’s 64-0 mauling of France. He was initially down the pecking order behind Makinson and World Cup star Dom Young who was ruled out of the series with illness. Wane said: “Tommy's got a bit of a bang on his wrist but he’ll be OK for the third Test I’m sure.
“But I’m excited. As soon as I found out about Tommy, I didn’t want to wait until Friday to see how he was. I just wanted to commit to Matty. He’s trained with us and he gets his reps in. I'm excited to see what he can do. Like I was with Tom Johnstone when losing Dom (Young), it didn’t really disappoint me that much. I’m excited about seeing those next ones in."