England’s ‘make or break’ week – Wane’s big calls in bid to save Ashes

As they approach Saturday’s second Ashes Test against Australia, England head coach Shaun Wane claims his team is in “make or break” territory and needs to win to keep the series alive.

After suffering a humiliating 26-6 defeat at Wembley in the opening game, the former Wigan boss has made three changes to his 19-man matchday squad for Saturday’s clash with the Kangaroos at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Wane described the players’ and staff’s experience with the loss and subsequent investigation as “heartbreaking” in a press release this week.

“I want a team to leave on Saturday,” Wane remarked.

At Wembley, I thought it wasn’t a Test match. They performed better in many ways than physically, so this week needs to look like a real Test match and we need to present ourselves more accurately.

It’s “make or break,” you say. There is still one game left. You don’t want to enter the third game with a pair of losses, that’s how I see it.

England is looking for consistency in some areas and the right combination in others to compete more fiercely.

The second Test on Saturday, which is sold out, will begin at 14:30 GMT and is streamed live on BBC One, iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website and app.

Finding the right balance between the Super League and NRL players was Wane’s biggest challenge as he tried to determine the best personnel and positional adjustments to make.

The 61-year-old has repeatedly mentioned that Tonga and Samoa players having credit in the bank at international level following their series victories in 2022 and the World Cup in 2022.

Wane vehemently defended Jack Welsby earlier this week in the face of significant criticism, particularly from Kangaroos legend Laurie Daley, who earlier claimed that he anticipated him to “bounce back strongly” from an out-of-sorts performance in London.

However, the absence of the versatile St Helens player suggests that AJ Brimson, who shifted from Australia to England in May, will play fullback.

The 27-year-old, whose mother is from south London and whose two brothers were born in Chertsey, was brought up during Wane’s press conference right after the first Test.

Reece Walsh’s contributions largely contributed to Australia’s ability to produce several important long-range breaks and important attacking metres, but England struggled to convert kick returns.

Brimson’s pace and support play are obvious draws, as is his previous playing for the Gold Coast Titans and Queensland, and it is hoped that this will give England’s attack a new dimension.

“AJ’s training regimen and what he brings to a team are outstanding. Wane, who has been accused of favoring Super League players over those competing in Australia’s top league, “is excited to see him.

People in the room are aware of our players’ abilities. I’m hurt because the NRL doesn’t yet, and that hurts them.

If we attack as physically as we can, which we didn’t do last weekend, I’ll feel better on Saturday if we try to attack them and defend as much as we can.

One of Wane’s main points during the Ashes preparation was his choice to omit Man of Steel champion Jake Connor from his 24-man squad.

There was already the issue that three did not split, with George Williams, Harry Smith of Wigan, and Mikey Lewis of Hull KR competing for spots in the halves even without Connor.

In the series opener, Lewis, who was the Super League Grand Final man of the match, struggled to make anything comparable to the impact that Williams did.

Smith appears to be playing the traditional number seven role now that Wane has suggested that he wants England to end their sets better.

Smith’s skill for managing and kicking would be a clear remedy for some initially disjointed and scrupulous play that prevented England from putting any pressure on in the first Test.

Lewis won’t be watching from the stands, though.

The 24-year-old played a replacement hooker role for Smith against Tonga and was also available for Samoa when Jez Litten and his team-mate Jez Litten were lined up for the starting number nine spot.

That means Daryl Clark, who scored England’s only try after the break, could completely miss out.