England kickstarted their three match test series against Tonga today with a narrow 22-18 win at the Totally Wicked Stadium with Tom Johnstone’s two second-half tries being the difference.
It was Johnstone’s first England appearance in five years and having scored a hattrick that day on debut, he bagged himself a brace today with the win confirming England as one nil up in the historic three match series.
Heading into the tests the talk surrounding England focused on the fact that captain George Williams was suspended, meaning that Shaun Wane would have to find himself a new skipper for the first two tests.
On Tuesday (17th) it was confirmed that Jack Welsby would lead England out at his club’s home ground for the first test, the full-back becoming England’s youngest ever captain at just 22 years of age.
He put in an accomplished performance during today’s win with his exceptional cut-out pass for Johnstone’s first being one of the elite pieces of skill on show.
That try saw England go 16-12 in front after having gone into the break at 12-12, both Toby King and Mikey Lewis having scored in instances during which the Rovers man broke the Tongan line with his quick carries.
Tongas two tries were sandwiched between King’s opener and Lewis’ fine individual effort just before the half, whilst Johnstone’s brace pushed England to victory.
A late Tongan consolation try did create a tense final two minutes but on the whole it was an impressive England performance, particularly in the second-half.
It means England now head to Huddersfield’s John Smiths’ Stadium for the second test, and the question would be – will Wane select a Giants player to skipper the side, as he did with Welsby at his home ground.
Asked in the post-match press about his captain choice for next week, Wane explained: “Well George is the captain but Jack will be captain next week whilst George finishes his band and then it’s just really good practice for him.”
He was full of praise for the 22-year-old’s display of leadership throughout the training camp and his performance.
“He speaks a lot in training, he’s spoken in the changing room, and then led really well today.
“He killed it. He just nailed his speech, his captain speech after the game and I saw George Williams too and I think he was really upset but he nailed it. He’s going to be a future captain, definitely.”
Interestingly Wane then commented on what it means for the future.
“I’ll be gone from this job soon, in a few years’ time, and then I’ll leave it with two really good, capable captains to move forward.”
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