At St Helens yesterday, Shaun Wane’s England side defeated Kristian Woolf’s Tonga 22-18 after tries from Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves centre Tony King, Hull KR halfback and Man of the Match Mikey Lewis and a brace from Tom Johnstone.
But the time of year played a factor in the match making the pitch very muddy and even forcing BBC pundit Robbie Hunter-Paul wear his gold shoes with spikes just to manage the turf.
There has been a lot of discussion about the decision to play the series at three rugby league grounds rather than expanding into new territories.
The lack of a London game was certainly something questioned by fans and something that has been emphasised further by the promotion of London Broncos.
Either way, it wouldn’t just be St Helens who suffered from these problems but still many fans were stunned by the conditions as well.
One fan took to social media to say: “Is the St Helens pitch known to cut up like that? Looked very heavy and probably the reason we didn’t see more expansive play.”
Another joked: “Feel a bit sorry for Kristian Woolf. Completely blindsided by the English conditions and refereeing. Could have done with some local knowledge especially on that pitch.”
Those comments were echoed by Jon Wilkin who went even further when commenting on the state of the pitch at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
“It is a good track at Huddersfield, listen this has been like a cow field today. The Tongan guys aren’t used to that but we’ve got two more tests to look forward to,” Wilkin commented in regard to the pitch he used to call home.
Former Leeds Rhinos legend and England captain Jamie Peacock agreed with this assessment of the playing conditions.
“For this Tongan side or for touring sides, it’s getting used to the English conditions. He’s nailed that.
“They’ve had their hit out this week and he expects them to be a lot better next week. I expect they will be as well, I think they’ll be a lot more direct with the ball.”
In both his BBC interview and when talking to the media, Kristian Woolf emphasised further the problem with the pitch.
