The third and final England and Tonga test takes place at Headingley tomorrow but oftentimes during this series the battle has taken place off field, both head coaches Shaun Wane and Kristian Woolf going at it as if they’re still in their former roles as Wigan Warriors and St Helens’ bosses respectively.
It was a war of words that started before a ball had even been kicked via Wane’s programme notes ahead of the first test at the Totally Wicked Stadium. The England boss offered up the line: ““I don’t really know Kristian Woolf personally, but he did okay at St Helens.”
Given Woolf’s tenure with the Red Vee saw him lift three Grand Finals then doing ‘okay’ might be an understatement, but from there the flame was lit and as such the press conferences of both men has been almost as entertaining as the play on the field.
Shaun Wane made it clear that comments from the Tongan camp following that first test had been the driving factor and ambition to win the second test, the ex Wigan coach having taken issue with comments surrounding ‘Tonga losing, rather than England winning’.
At today’s captain’s run which Serious About Rugby League attended, Woolf was asked if he was surprised at the Saints and Wigan style rivalry that has taken off, to which he responded: “Yeah, look, I am a little bit surprised there. It’s not something I want to get caught up in, to be honest with you. We’re here to promote a test series. We’re here to promote a game this weekend.
“I think England have played terrifically and there should be a real focus on how they’ve played. They’ve played with some skill, they’ve played with some real toughness, they’ve played with some real grit.
“We’ve played well as well. We’ve been really proud of our boats and as I said before, one thing that I’ll give England enormous credit for is when we’ve had our opportunities, they’ve turned up and they’ve scrambled and they’ve shown a real grit and a real desire to want to save those.”
Woolf continued to try and push the narrative of the game being central to the conversation, not the off-field matters, promising his side would be fired up to prevent England earning a clean sweep and 3-0 series victory. Despite that he was more than happy to embrace the rivalry.
“That’s certainly what we should be talking about leading into this test and promoting this test. It’s going to be a great game. We’re going to play better, I know we’ll play better. I’m sure England will be wanting to do the same and I’m sure it’s going to be a very close contest,” he added.
“I can’t control comments that are made and if Shaun needs an enemy then I’m happy to be that, there’s no dramas.”
Beyond the issue of Wigan versus Saints, Woolf admitted that it was a rivalry that has been six years in the making but he made clear to establish it was one that only served to highlight his team’s incredible progression on the world stage.
Speaking to Serious About Rugby League, Woolf stated: “I think there’s been a bit of rivalry there on field since 2017. Those scenes, that game, the way it finished, there’s a little bit of controversy. That always leads into a bit of a rivalry.
“I think it has been building for a while. That’s more testament to how far we’ve come along than anything else. Before 2017 we wouldn’t have been given the privilege of being on the same field as England unless it was coming across each other in a pool game in a World Cup.
“Since then we’ve played in major knockout semi-finals in World Cups, we’re playing in a major Test Series now, we played obviously Great Britain in 2019, so that’s a real testament to how far this group’s come and we’re on an upward trajectory and we want to keep it that way.”
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