Rugby League World Cup- The 18th man: Shaun Wane can get any group of players to buy into his mantra

Robert Kenyon

The Samoa game showed that Shaun Wane can get any group of players to buy into his mantra and play in the way he wants with a savage defence.

We belted the big Samoans all game and were excellent in turning defence into attack.

Watching Radley and McIllorum play would send shivers down every attacker's spine, with the way they put their bodies on the line and put everything into the tackle.

The game against France will see the rest of the squad get their chance, I will be interested to see how Ackers and Sneyd get on.

The tournament so far has been great to watch, seeing the cream of the NRL in action up close is a rugby league fans dream.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of the games in the flesh, especially the quarter final at Wigan.

Darren Wrudd

What an opening statement to a World Cup campaign.

Last week I suggested that Shaun Wane knows best and didn’t he just prove it.

I have not been a fan of George Williams’ play since returning from Canberra (where I cheered him on every week) as his form at Wire behind what was I suppose a beaten pack has been off, but put him in a quality side and he quickly regains the form he showed each week down under, fantastic.

My other doubt was Welsby in the halves.

I feel sure he had a point to make to shut up all us doubters with a top drawer performance.

Jack, please accept my apologies for ever doubting you and congratulations on a fabulous display alongside your partner in the halves.

Of course, this could not happen without everyone else playing their part too and from a tough and uncompromising pack who stood up to the Samoan opponents with dominance and bravery to the outside backs who showed eagerness and discipline which is all born from the fantastic Mr Wane himself.

The strategy of the side seemed to revolve around commitment and discipline, our line speed was the best I have ever witnessed from an England team and even Michael McIllorum had his temper under control to give a performance all round of a side who can compete at the highest of levels.

The previous week, the Australian pundits had given England little respect for their chances of success and highlighted the ‘wonderful’ squad that the Samoans would field, but it made little difference as I think everyone must have been surprised at the gulf in quality between the two performances.

Perhaps the Aussies will be looking over their shoulders with a little more concern as we step out on Saturday to play again.

The French side we shall face played their first game against Greece on Monday evening and although they won the game it was heartwarming to watch the Greece team play the game with such spirit.

I was not aware that Greece had a team until recently, but that’s no surprise as it was actually illegal to play the game over there until around three months ago.

The French will be a test for us, but one which I do not fear if we maintain our standards as this England squad is something special.

The first week of the tournament for me has been an absolute breath of fresh air.

The exposure gained from having every game available across the BBC platform is brilliant and should be shouted from the rooftops, the teams of commentators too are throwing up some surprises – who knew James Graham was so eloquent?

Will Vossy ever get his curry sorted (feel free to call me Andrew).

The opening ceremony had a hiccup for sure, but I don’t really care if I am honest.

The game went ahead and everyone not in a Samoan shirt had fun. The poor guys sorting out the PA system must have had a nightmare but it all went well in the end.

I feel a real sense of optimism for the sport with this World Cup series, tell all your friends and buy a ticket if you can as you really don’t want to miss any of the fun.

Stephen Ford

I went to Newcastle on Saturday quietly confident of a win over Samoa despite the apparent strength, on paper at least, of the Samoan team.

Shaun Wane is an excellent coach in a must win situation and I knew that he would have the England team fired up for the match.

I also thought the Samoan team may take the English too lightly and approach the game too confidently, leaving themselves open to a sucker punch.

I got the win I expected but the 60 points posted by England was way beyond any score that I had envisaged and whilst watching the game it felt almost surreal.

Yes Samoa were poor, but England were excellent from the opening minute to the final whistle.

A complete performance and the win opens up the competition now for England to get to the final if they can beat PNG in the quarters and Tonga or Samoa in the semi-final.

Based on Saturday’s performance, unless there are some major injuries, it is very difficult not to see England getting to the semi-final as a minimum and the final as a very strong possibility.

A great performance by England despite missing several key players due to injury.

My only underlying worry is the lack of a decent kicking from hand game which will be required if and when we meet Australia or New Zealand in the final.

A minor point from my point of view that had me scratching my head was the man of the match award going to Radley.

He had a solid game but as a minimum Williams, Welsby and Tomkins for me had far stronger games and you could also add Young and Whitehead to those three.

The loss of the sound system for the pre match entertainment and opening ceremony was very disappointing and I hope that there is a full review of this with the findings to be published.

After the game I believe Wane stated that players who didn’t play on Saturday will be playing against France and even with a diminished team I feel that England will still be far too strong for the French.

Due to other commitments I cannot make the game but I will watch the match live on the TV.

I am confident of a win and if we beat the French by 20 points or more this would not surprise me.

Hopefully after the emphatic win over Samoa there will be a full house at Bolton but I am hearing that some very high costs for tickets may well mean the attendance may fall short of a full capacity. That for me would be a great pity.

So far I have enjoyed every game (I haven’t yet seen New Zealand v Lebanon) however, the commentary and pundits from the BBC has been poor in the extreme and is little better than Sky coverage.

The exception to this was the PNG v Tonga game which in itself was a fantastic game to watch and the commentary from Voss and Graham was for me first class.

Overall a great start and I am looking forward to the remainder of the competition.

Glynn Bradshaw

It was a great performance by England, although Samoa were disappointing.

My man of the match would’ve been Williams.

It should be a straight forward victory against France on Saturday, if we don’t become complacent

I’ve seen a few of the games so far, and there have been comfortable victories on the whole.

It sounded like a good game between Tonga and PNG, but the tournament will no doubt get better when we get to the knockout stages.