England veteran John Bateman has rejected the ‘revenge’ narrative ahead of the Tests against Samoa but outlined what fans can expect instead.
The last meetings between the two sides came at the delayed 2021 World Cup with the teams facing off twice and to very different results. In the opening game of the tournament, Shaun Wane’s side swept Samoa aside with a 60-6 win that saw Tommy Makinson score 24 points.
Just weeks later, Samoa would present a very different test as they took England to golden point in which Stephen Crichton slotted a drop goal to send the Toa Samoa to a first-ever World Cup Final.
It’s a loss that Shaun Wane has often referenced as one of the toughest in his career and therefore the rhetoric of ‘revenge’ has been used aplenty, however, that’s all it is in the eyes of John Bateman, who has now been named in the 19-man squad to face Samoa.
When speaking to Serious About Rugby League, Bateman would brush the notion of revenge as side as simply something to sell the game better.
“If you want to call it revenge, I suppose it would sell better but for us, it’s about going out and getting the win,” he explained when previewing the two-Test series.
“I think their team is quite different compared to what they had in the semi-finals. They’ve got a core group of players which is similar to ourselves but I think they’ll be saying the same things about going out and getting the win in.”
John Bateman previews ‘good test’ Samoa
That core group of players includes three Super League players with John Asiata, Ricky Leutele and new Leeds Rhinos man Keenan Palasia named to the squad by Ben Gardiner.
There is also Grand Final winner Jarome Luai and cross-code star Roger Tuivasa-Sheck who broke English hearts with his two tries in the 2013 World Cup to help New Zealand progress to the final, and over a decade on he returns but as a Samoa player.
Samoa could need his talent with John Bateman noting Samoa’s poor 2023 end-of-season campaign that saw them hammered 38-12 and 50-0 against Australia and New Zealand respectively.
He explained: “I don’t think they had such a good tour last year, so obviously they’ll be coming over here to try and get something on the board. We’re looking forward to that. I think it’ll be confrontational, I think it’ll be aggressive, I think it’ll be everything that a supporter will want to watch and it should be good.
“I think the majority of their team is from the NRL, there are a few thereabouts from over here but be it will be a good test for us. I think it should be an interesting game.”
Unlike Samoa, England had a brilliant Test series in 2023 as they defeated Tonga 3-0 and Bateman would note that as a sign of strength and an insight into what fans can expect this year.
“I think if you go back to last year against Tonga, we really showed what we’re about. Obviously no one really had us down to win with the strength of their team, so we just went out there and did our job, did the best we could and we’ll do it exactly the same this year.
“We’ve got a little eye on the World Cup but it’s all about this year and what goes on now and then. We’ll take it step by step.”
Details on how to watch England versus Samoa can be found here.