England boss Shaun Wane could be heard singing the praises of star man Herbie Farnworth following their 34-16 win over Samoa at Headingley.
The hosts had to come from behind to complete the series whitewash, but in truth, the win was a routine one as they scored six tries to Samoa’s three. Farnworth scored two and set one up in West Yorkshire on what was a man of the match worthy showing from the NRL based centre.
George Williams, Liam Marshall, Matty Ashton and Jack Welsby also touched down in Leeds as England cruised to a 2-0 series win ahead of a series against Australia next year, but it was Farnworth’s name on the lips of the head coach.
“I thought we played well,” Wane told the press after the game. “I thought Samoa were fantastic, it was a good Test match, a few too many points for me, I’m very defensive orientated but I thought Samoa were class.
“Herbie was really, really good. In both games he’s been outstanding and he’s a credit to the Dolphins and the NRL and I’m just glad he’s English. He’s training well, he’s had a bit of a personal problem this week and missed a session but to perform like that is a credit, he’s very easy to coach.
“I thought our bench was good, Morgan Knowles, Mike McMeeken, Thommo (Luke Thompson), I thought they all gave us a lift when we needed it. I thought our bench was superb.”
The series win was England’s second in two years, having seen off Tonga 3-0 a year ago. As such, while Wane admits his side still have plenty of work to do, he believes his side are on the right track.
“I was really, really happy with last year’s win against Tonga and you’ve seen what they did this morning (beating New Zealand),” he added.
“To beat them 3-0, they’re a quality team, I thought we did well and doing this 2-0, I thought was an absolute credit to our players and staff and how hard they’ve worked. Bearing in mind Samoa have had a lot more time on the field than what we have, but you couldn’t tell.”
Asked if he thought that England performance would trouble Australia, he added: “I don’t think so and Ben (Gardiner) will say the same from Samoa, there’s areas we need to get better and we know what we’re capable of inside the group and the bubble.”
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