'Let's do something special' - rallying call from Sam Tomkins ad Shaun Wane ahead of World Cup opener

The 33-year-old former Wigan star is well aware it will be his final chance to help end half a century of hurt by bringing the trophy home.

And he's called on a massive effort from everyone in the camp to end the southern hemisphere's dominance of the competition.

"The World Cup is something special," he said. "I'm very proud to be English and proud to pull on the England jersey.

"To be successful in that shirt is always the main goal, there's no bigger competition than the World Cup is there?

"It's a tough task, we're not favourites, but we've got a great group of players who are desperate to do something special.

"We've just fallen short in the past, and we know this year we'll have to be better than we ever have been before, because it's the toughest competition that it's ever been before.

"Whoever wins it will deserve it because there's some good teams in there.

"The boys are bouncing, we just want to get going now."

Coach Shaun Wane is also determined to win the trophy on home soil.

But he's taking it one step at a time - and looking no further than Saturday's opener against Samoa

"I am desperate for this tournament, but my job as head coach is to make the complicated very simple," he said.

"I need to prioritise on what's going to help us get a win against Samoa.

"We performed okay against Fiji but this is a different challenge against a really good Samoan team with six players from the NRL winners.

"We need to be good to win but they need to be good as well.

"It's going to be full-on and I'm very confident my players are going to deliver."

Wane is also expecting a huge physical challenge in the opener at Newcastle's St James' Park.

"They've got big athletes," he added. "Man for man they're 10-15 kilos heavier than us.

"We believe we can trouble Samoa, but we need to be technically good.

"It's game on. We'll challenge them and we're English, so we won't give in.

"We've always been the underdog and will be again. That's when we're at our best."