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‘Best kicking game in Super League’ – Shaun Wane details reasoning behind selection of new England halfback

At 31 and without an England appearance to your name, you would be forgiven for thinking the time had passed for international representation.

Combine that with being a halfback and starting the season slowly, it would be understandable to believe there is little to no hope of making England’s World Cup squad by the end of the campaign.

But Marc Sneyd has defied all odds to make it into Shaun Wane’s plan at the eleventh hour, a decision that the England coach revealed left the Salford playmaker ‘really emotional’.

On the selection of Sneyd, Wane said: “He’s a great kid and we had a fantastic conversation when I told him he was in, he was very, very emotional.

“He’s got probably the best kicking game in the competition and we’re playing in October and November – it’s going to be wet!

“He can make a bad yardage set into a good yardage set and that’s his quality. He plays straight and he has his eyes up. He is a smart operator who knows how to win games.”

Wane’s comments have been echoed by Sneyd’s Salford and now England teammate Kallum Watkins, with Andy Ackers making up the trio of players selected from the Red Devils.

“Marc Sneyd is a quality operator,” said Watkins. “He has been successful during his time at Hull as well and he, along with Andy Ackers, have been given the opportunity.

“They have both been really emotional (about being picked) but I think that they have deserved it with the year they have had this year.

“It is great for the Salford club as well, which has obviously had some tough times over the last couple of years, but we have managed to end up competing to be in finals.

“Them two players (Sneyd and Ackers) have been a massive contribution to what the club has achieved this year, so they fully deserve the opportunity to be in the England squad.”

Both Sneyd and Ackers could make their England debuts on home turf this Friday after being included in the 22-man squad to face Fiji at the AJ Bell Stadium.

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