An Ireland World Cup star is hoping to make his England debut in 2025. Wigan-born Leeds Rhinos forward James McDonnell played for England’s second-string Knights before representing Ireland at the global tournament two years ago.
He was called up by coach Shaun Wane into England’s senior squad ahead of this year’s midseason international in France, but wasn’t included in the matchday side and didn’t feature against Samoa in the autumn.
Now – with England set to face Australia in an Ashes series, probably in this county, at the end of next year – McDonnell is keen to stay in Wane’s thoughts.
“It definitely gave me a confidence boost,” the 24-year-old said of his spell in camp with England.
“It was unexpected at the time, but made me aware I was on the radar and brought me into that environment.
“That’s the pinnacle you want to be aiming for and after getting a taste of it I am hungrier to try and get in there again.”
The second-rower revealed: “Although I didn’t play in the end of season series, me and Shaun have still been in contact and he’s telling me stuff I need to work on in my game.
“I think he still sees me in and around the picture at some point. It is down to me to put the performances out there and be what he wants me to be at that time of the year.”
McDonnell’s chances will be boosted if Leeds Rhinos climb the Betfred Super League table, following successive eighth-placed finishes and he reckons one thing is certain under team boss Brad Arthur, Leeds will be fitter next term.
“We are getting pretty beasted,” he said of pre-season so far. “We are feeling the benefits and week-on-week we are building and we are getting better.
“The ball in play is getting longer, because there’s less errors. There’s consequences to having the errors, where we go into conditioning drills for a minute to replicate a defensive set in a game, but week-on-week we are building how much time the ball is actually in our hands.
“The more we get the ball in our hands, the better we are getting – so it is looking promising.”
Rhinos made more errors than any other team in Super League last term and McDonnell added: “The fitter you are, the more you can handle what people call the washing machine – the cycle of back and forth, consecutive sets.
“That really takes its toll on you, but the more conditioned your body is to that, the more you can concentrate.
“That’s the biggest thing really. Errors are made when people are fatigued and concentration slips a little bit and the basics aren’t quite there, but the more you do it under that pressure and that intensity, the more second nature it becomes.”
