England players were ‘already thinking of the final’ when they lost to Samoa says Robbie Hunter-Paul

Much has been made about what went wrong for England in the Rugby League World Cup after they were beaten by Samoa in the semi-finals last week.

After yesterday’s final between Australia and Samoa at Old Trafford, it was suggested by former Bradford Bulls star Robbie Hunter-Paul that complacency was the key to England’s down fall as they lost to Samoa.

He compared it to one of Bradford’s Grand Final defeats as he suggested England were already thinking of the final.

He said: “They had a much tougher route and the mindset to put on a performance in that semi-final was a lot different it wasn’t the team that they started the tournament against and beat by 60 points.

“I remember beating St Helens in Super League by 50 points in the qualifying final and then losing the Grand Final against St Helens.

“Complacency was what it was about. Our minds weren’t at the game, we had already won a bit like what it seemed to me last week.

“The England players were already thinking of the final.”

It comes after Leeds Rhinos legend Jamie Peacock called for a review into what went wrong as he questioned the hierarchy and the coaching decisions.

Meanwhile, Jon Wilkin cited a damning statistic in the defeat to Samoa.