Jamaica 4-56 England Knights: Player ratings and major talking points

In the October cold, Paul Anderson’s England Knights put on a show against a gutsy Jamaica side in Jordan Turner’s testimonial. The young England side showed great promise as they scored 10 spectacular tries. The future is definitely bright for the national team.

Major Talking Points:

1. Brutality around the ruck

International games are often won down the middle. Just look at how physical the last World Cup Final was. So, it’s a great sign just how dominant the England youngsters were down the middle tonight. Their speed in defence sapped they life out of Jamaica whilst their ruck speed and directness in attack got them on the front foot. The outside backs grabbed the headlines of course but the middle men were exceptional.

2. Building blocks for Jamaica

Yes they ended up on the wrong end of a thrashing, but there were definite positives for Jamaica tonight. In the opening 10 minutes they matched the Knights down the middle and England’s first try came against the run of play thanks to a Jack Broadbent intercept after the Jamaicans had built some pressure with some solid defence and good go forward built by the impressive start from the two props. As the game got away from them, they showed good determination and at times appeared threatening as they moved the ball. They will be looking forward to next year’s World Cup.

3. The Pryce is right

On the right hand side of the England attack, Will Pryce was exceptional. We saw his signature sidestep, his brilliant pace and plenty of skill as he scored a try himself and created some for his teammates. The sky’s the limit for the Huddersfield youngster and he stole the show. An underrated highlight saw his neat kick create Ellis Longstaff’s first international score. But we should give a mention to his opposite number Jordan Turner. At the other end of his career, it won’t have been the result he’d have hoped for in his testimonial but he can be proud of a brilliant career.

Player Ratings:

Jamaica
1 James Woodburn-Hall – 6
2 Ben Jones-Bishop – 7
3 Joe Brown – 6
4 Jacob Ogden – 6
5 Greg Johnson – 6
6 Jordan Turner – 7
7 Jy-mel Coleman – 6
8 Ross Peltier – 7
9 Ashton Golding – 6
10 Michael Lawrence – 7
11 Danny Bravo – 6
12 Joel Farrell – 7
13 Keenen Tomlinson – 7
Substitutes
14 Jon Margin – 6
15 Jordan Andrade – 6
16 Kadeem Williams – 6
17 Mo Agoro – 6
18 Abevia McDonald – 6
19 Alex Brown – 6
20 Chris Ball – 6

England Knights
1 Matty Ashton – 8
2 Sam Halsall – 7
3 Connor Wrench – 7
4 Jack Broadbent – 8
5 Liam Marshall – 7
6 Will Pryce – 9
7 Mikey Lewis – 8
8 George Lawler – 8
9 Danny Walker – 8
10 Matty English – 7
11 Kai Pearce-Paul – 7
12 Ellis Longstaff – 7
13 James McDonnell – 7
Substitutes
14 Aaron Smith – 8
15 Morgan Gannon – 8
16 Tom Holroyd – 8
17 Matty Lees – 7