St Helens star tipped for future NRL move as England & Tonga described as flops in Australia

After England were knocked out of the Rugby League World Cup by Samoa in the semi-final at the Emirates Stadium last week, there was naturally something of a post-mortem as everyone weighed in with their own opinion of what went wrong for Shaun Wane’s side in the tournament.

In Australia, the Daily Telegraph has described England’s performance as a “flop.”

They picked out ex-St Helens coach Kristian Woolf’s side as the flop of the tournament for their quarter-final defeat to Samoa, but described England as an honourable mention after former Wigan Warriors boss Shaun Wane couldn’t get England to a home World Cup Final.

They said: “The Poms looked the goods during the pool rounds, fuelling hopes that they could win a World Cup on home soil. So much for that. They saved their worst for last as were dumped out of the tournament in golden point by Samoa. There was a collective sigh around England.”

Meanwhile ex-Huddersfield Giants youngster and Newcastle Knights star Dom Young of England was seen as a player who came of age during the tournament with the Telegraph claiming that a star was born:

“The Newcastle winger arrived in England off the back of a solid season for the Knights but he was rampant at the World Cup. Young scored tries for fun as England cruised though the opening rounds of the premiership. He and England faltered at the penultimate hurdle, but a star was born.”

Young scored nine tries including four against Greece.

He isn’t the only English youngster catching the eye in Australia with Jack Welsby who was described as one of the breakout stars of the tournament by the publication who have even tipped him for an NRL move in the future.

They said: “Welsby is well known in England, where he is a star with St Helens, but he was a relative unknown in Australia. His performances at the World Cup have put him on the radar of every NRL team. He formed a potent tandem with former Canberra No.7 George Williams in the halves for England as the hosts qualified for the semi-finals, only to lose to Samoa. Welsby has a long-term agreement with Saints but don’t be surprised at some point in his career if he ends up in the NRL.”