I was gutted this week for my big mate Sam Burgess and the really sad news that he’s got to retire because of injury.
He’s the best player I ever played alongside and an absolute champion on and off the field.
He really is one of the true greats of the modern era and our game will feel poorer without him blazing his trail through it.
Hopefully we can cheer him up a little with a cracking performance against New Zealand in Auckland tomorrow.
We were all disappointed to lose our first game but I think we need to congratulate Tonga on the way they played because they were outstanding.
Certainly in the first half, it was one of the better performances I have seen internationally and we now have four very strong international teams.
What Tonga need to do now is replicate it against Australia on Saturday and, if they do, then we know they are well and truly in the mix. I certainly think they have got the players and the ability to do that.
What we need to do, on the back of the defeat by Tonga, is understand that playing internationally is all about patience and building pressure to create opportunities.
I thought we showed a lot of fighting spirit to get back in the game against Tonga in the second half but we need to focus on being more clinical.
I’m expecting a great match against New Zealand because they will also be extremely motivated by the manner of their defeat against Australia.
Ours is the middle game of a triple header at Eden Park, with Samoa and Fiji playing first and Tonga taking on the Kangaroos on the last day.
It’s looking like a fantastic day for rugby league and it could be one of those days, as an international player, that you always remember.
Our team have been training well all week and the mood is buoyant because the boys know how privileged they are to wear this Great Britain shirt.
Ideally we’d liked to have had a warm up game before the tour, or 10 days training before our first game, and it’s something that probably needs to be looked at.
But, with having the World Cup Nines, our time together as a group was cut down but it’s something we are dealing with.
As with any tour, a team develops and grows along the way and performances improve and I expect an improved performance on Saturday.
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