The scrum-half Matty Smith has played down fears he will miss the rest of the Four Nations campaign due to an ankle injury picked up in England’s opening game against Samoa.
Steve McNamara’s side are in the southern hemisphere attempting to win their first series involving the major nations since 1970 but the opening night of competition here was an opportunity to make an even bigger impression on rugby league’s history books.
Australia’s 30-12 defeat by New Zealand means the home side must beat England at Melbourne’s AAMI Park next weekend to stay alive in the tournament. The green-and-golds have contested every major decider since Great Britain beat France to clinch the first World Cup final in 1954.
But England will have to improve significantly on the nervy 32-26 win over Samoa to end six decades of Aussie pre-eminence – a task which would be made more difficult without Smith who hobbled out of Suncorp Stadium in a medical boot.
“I’ve rolled my ankle, it’s swollen up a bit and they’ve put the boot on as a precaution,” the Wigan playmaker said. “It’s just swelling. We’ve got to get the swelling down over the next couple of days and then it’s back into training. I’ll be back on the field on Monday. We’ve got a big week. We need to fix a few things.”
One of the positives of the Samoa game was late bloomer Smith – making his Test debut at 27 – eking out an effective combination with NRL-based stand-off Gareth Widdop.
“That’s why we’ve come over here, we English: to beat the Aussies,” Smith said. “To beat the Aussies in their own backyard, it’s a great feeling. Not many touring sides do it. They’re a great side, they’ve got the best players in the world. But it’s there for us. We’re the underdogs, obviously.”
The back-row Liam Farrell was another casualty of the opener, reporting to recovery on Sunday with a leg injury, while the stand-in captain, James Graham, was cleared of a facial fracture and the tour captain, Sean O’Loughlin, was recovering well from his own leg problem.
It will be determined whether there is any action against the full-back Sam Tomkins for a leg-twist on his opposite number, Tim Simona. Entire matches are reviewed in the Four Nations, regardless of whether an incident is placed on report, which this was not.
But the biggest scare for England on Saturday was provided by Super League’s Man of Steel, Daryl Clark, who was almost folded in two when tackled just before half-time. The prop Josh McGuire was penalised for taking the Warrington signing high, a ruling contested by the Samoa coach, Matt Parish.
There was near silence from the big crowd as Clark received attention as he lay crumpled on the pitch, before regaining his feet and playing on in the second half.
“It wasn’t a nice feeling when I was going back – you think the worst,” Clark said. “After a couple of minutes I realised it was nothing serious and I was pretty pleased. They say it’s a bit of a rolled ankle and a dead calf. To come out of that with a dead leg, I’m pretty happy with that.”
Clark set up a try with his first touch at international level. “They were telling us all week to make an impact coming off the bench and give the guys a lift. I’d like to think I played my part in doing that.”
Asked if England were ready to take on Australia, Clark said: “It’s going to be a massive step up. I watch a lot of the NRL, I know a bit about a few of the players but I’ve never met any of them and I don’t know them. It’s going to be exciting.”
Australia look like being without the stand-off Daly Cherry-Evans after he missed most of the New Zealand match with a torn hip muscle. Brisbane’s Ben Hunt is a likely replacement.
The former Golden Boot winner Greg Inglis was also absent for half of the defeat due to a virus, from which he is expected to recover fully this week, but the coach, Tim Sheens, is expected to infuse his forward pack with more size.
The captain, Cameron Smith, even offered England some advice after Saturday’s match, saying New Zealand “had numbers in the tackle, for some reason we didn’t reciprocate that. They were just building momentum from there. That’s probably something that England will look at.”
Sheens said England’s “looks a strong squad. They’ve got some young players too, some unknowns to us, although we’ve got a bit of footage on most of them.
“We’re the team that are under the pump now. We’re going to have to win this week.”
While Australia have already shifted base to Melbourne, England will remain on the Gold Coast until Thursday.
