Shaun Wane admits England motivated by ‘revenge’ ahead of French clash

The Super League season takes its second break in the month of June, as eyes turn towards the England national side. England face France in a mid-season international next weekend, which will be held at the Stade Ernest-Wallon in Toulouse as part of the celebrations of 90 years of Rugby League in France.

Wane’s side was last seen in the series against Tonga at the close of the 2023 series. England were victorious, winning the series 3-0, in games played at Wigan, Huddersfield and Leeds. The game also represented the first major series played since the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, where England suffered a heart-breaking semi-final exit in golden point against Samoa.

Samoa travel to England for a post-season tour later this year. Wane and his players will be keen to put in a strong performance to expel some of the bad memories from the World Cup. They are also looking forward to a potential Ashes series in 2025 and a World Cup in 2026.

Now, Wane has given his thoughts ahead of the series, with payback at the forefront of his mind.

Wane admits revenge is a motivation for England

Speaking to the Sportsman, Wane admitted that payback was on his side’s mind as they look forward to the end-of-season test series against Samoa. The game against France is England’s only competitive fixture ahead of the Samoa series, as they look to ramp up preparations towards a potential Ashes series in 2025.

Asked whether revenge was a major motivating factor for his side, Wane said:

“Yeah, a little bit, no doubt about that. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as sad as hurt as I did at the end of that game at the end, how it ended, they were the best team, we were poor.

“No excuse from us, but that took a lot of getting over. I’m very much, what’s next? And I don’t dwell on things but I dwelt on that. It was tough to get over, it still is because we just undersold ourselves, I wasn’t good enough, the players weren’t good enough in the most important game of my career.

“So, there’s been a lot of soul searching, me looking at what I did was the first major thing we did. So to get them in this game, there’s no denying it, there will be an element of that team out of us.

“They beat us fair and square, I don’t know if we got a bit confident after the first game against them in the World Cup, but I knew they’d come back. There were too many good players in that team, and it bit us in the end.”