England forward Mike McMeeken has spoken on Samoa’s pre-match Siva Tau ahead of Saturday’s second and final Test at AMT Headingley, a game that will wrap up the Rugby League season in England.
McMeeken was among the substitutes for Sunday’s game at Wigan when England opened the series with a 34-18 win. That match came in the aftermath of the two sides going nose to nose during Samoa’s traditional pre-match war dance, the Siva Tau.
The Samoan players advanced to within centimetres of their opponents, who were lined up on half-way and the Siva Tau ended with Man of Steel Mikey Lewis rubbing heads with his Samoan counterpart Gordon Chan Kum Tong.
It made for spectacular viewing, in the stadium and on BBC television, but some fans and pundits have since questioned why England are expected to stand and watch as the opposition strikes an early psychological blow.
McMeeken, though, reckons the pre-match ritual is also a chance for them to “stand as one”. He insisted: “It’s good to experience things like that. It’s something you can say you’ve faced in your career. I’ve faced it three times now and it’s always an intense thing to watch. We just make sure we stand together as one and respect it as well.”
👊 “Front it with some sort of reply. Like the League boys did last week.”
💪 Round Two coming this Saturday at Headingley – you won’t want to miss this!
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— England Rugby League (@England_RL) October 30, 2024
‘Expect it to be intense for the full 80’ promises England prop
McMeeken, who will join Wakefield Trinity from Catalans Dragons next season, was off the field when the two sides became involved in heated scenes in the final moments of last weekend’s game.
Remarkably, despite a mass confrontation involving almost every player on the pitch, no punches were thrown and England boss Shaun Wane admitted he had “never seen anything like that before”.
McMeeken recalled: “I was on the bench at that point so I literally had a front-row seat. It shows they have got passion and it shows the group of lads we’ve got as well. We are all from different clubs, but we all want the same thing and we are a tight-knit group.”
And while the 30-year-old forward expects Saturday’s showdown to be just as physical, he doesn’t think last week’s scuffle will have any bearing. “It [the second Test] was always going to be a bit spicy,” McMeeken stressed.
“We are 1-0 up and they don’t want to be losing 2-0. I expect them to come out all guns blazing from the first minute and I expect it to be intense for the full-80.”
Both England Men’s and Women’s Rugby League teams are in action this weekend with BBC coverage of both matches. Details can be found here.