Someone else thinks much the same as most of us apparently:


England send Exiles packing but Thomas Leuluai injury sours night

England Knights 18-10 Exiles

Andy Wilson at Langtree Park

guardian.co.uk, Saturday 16 June 2012 22.31 BST

Comments (14)


England gained revenge for the last-gasp defeat they had suffered in the first of these matches against the cream of Super League's overseas imports with a worthy and workmanlike performance, but this was a night that offered more questions than answers, particularly about the future of the Exiles concept.

The atmosphere was flat, even though the attendance scraped into five figures, and a storm of near Ukrainian intensity shortly after kick-off led to a rash of understandable handling errors that prevented the game from developing any real momentum. Perhaps most significantly, the second half was marred by a serious ankle ligament injury to Thomas Leuluai, the Wigan scrum-half who was captaining the Exiles – leaving the current Super League leaders likely to lose an expensive import for two months that include the Challenge Cup semi-final, as the result of releasing him for a game designed primarily to benefit England.

It will be interesting to see how Wigan and the other clubs regard the second International Origin match that has been arranged this year, for a midweek date in Huddersfield next month, after such an emphatic demonstration of the potential risk.

There is no doubt that the exercise is a major boon to the England coach, Steve McNamara, before next year's World Cup, especially with the refusal of Australia and New Zealand to play international rugby this year meaning the end-of-season opposition will come from France and Wales. The Exiles provided far higher-calibre resistance, even if they lacked any visible desperation.

England played the slippery conditions sensibly, with the Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield kicking especially well, and grafted to a 12-0 lead in the first half-hour through well-taken tries from the second rows Gareth Hock and Danny Tickle.

The Exiles offered a reminder of their threat with a slick combination which ended with Francis Meli getting on the outside of England's debutant wing Josh Charnley for a try that cut the deficit to 12-4. But England stretched away again six minutes into the second half through a sharp finish from Sam Tomkins, the Wigan full-back who exerted a growing influence on the match.

He then almost set up a try for Ryan Hall, with whom he had combined so well in last year's Four Nations, only for the powerful Leeds wing to fumble in the incident that led to Leuluai's injury. Instead the Exiles subjected England to a fresh bout of pressure, and although both Tomkins and Hall denied them with quality defence, Daryl Millard eventually claimed their second try from a delicate kick by his Catalans team-mate Scott Dureau.

However, England saw out the rest of the game with reasonable comfort, allowing McNamara to claim a tangible improvement over the last 12 months, and the crowd produced its biggest cheer of the night – which was not saying much – when the St Helens hooker, James Roby, was named man of the match for a typically industrious effort which included 55 tackles. But it would take a brave man to guarantee the fixture's long-term future after this.


www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/ju ... sfeed=true

Someone else thinks much the same as most of us apparently:


England send Exiles packing but Thomas Leuluai injury sours night

England Knights 18-10 Exiles

Andy Wilson at Langtree Park

guardian.co.uk, Saturday 16 June 2012 22.31 BST

Comments (14)


England gained revenge for the last-gasp defeat they had suffered in the first of these matches against the cream of Super League's overseas imports with a worthy and workmanlike performance, but this was a night that offered more questions than answers, particularly about the future of the Exiles concept.

The atmosphere was flat, even though the attendance scraped into five figures, and a storm of near Ukrainian intensity shortly after kick-off led to a rash of understandable handling errors that prevented the game from developing any real momentum. Perhaps most significantly, the second half was marred by a serious ankle ligament injury to Thomas Leuluai, the Wigan scrum-half who was captaining the Exiles – leaving the current Super League leaders likely to lose an expensive import for two months that include the Challenge Cup semi-final, as the result of releasing him for a game designed primarily to benefit England.

It will be interesting to see how Wigan and the other clubs regard the second International Origin match that has been arranged this year, for a midweek date in Huddersfield next month, after such an emphatic demonstration of the potential risk.

There is no doubt that the exercise is a major boon to the England coach, Steve McNamara, before next year's World Cup, especially with the refusal of Australia and New Zealand to play international rugby this year meaning the end-of-season opposition will come from France and Wales. The Exiles provided far higher-calibre resistance, even if they lacked any visible desperation.

England played the slippery conditions sensibly, with the Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield kicking especially well, and grafted to a 12-0 lead in the first half-hour through well-taken tries from the second rows Gareth Hock and Danny Tickle.

The Exiles offered a reminder of their threat with a slick combination which ended with Francis Meli getting on the outside of England's debutant wing Josh Charnley for a try that cut the deficit to 12-4. But England stretched away again six minutes into the second half through a sharp finish from Sam Tomkins, the Wigan full-back who exerted a growing influence on the match.

He then almost set up a try for Ryan Hall, with whom he had combined so well in last year's Four Nations, only for the powerful Leeds wing to fumble in the incident that led to Leuluai's injury. Instead the Exiles subjected England to a fresh bout of pressure, and although both Tomkins and Hall denied them with quality defence, Daryl Millard eventually claimed their second try from a delicate kick by his Catalans team-mate Scott Dureau.

However, England saw out the rest of the game with reasonable comfort, allowing McNamara to claim a tangible improvement over the last 12 months, and the crowd produced its biggest cheer of the night – which was not saying much – when the St Helens hooker, James Roby, was named man of the match for a typically industrious effort which included 55 tackles. But it would take a brave man to guarantee the fixture's long-term future after this.


www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/ju ... sfeed=true