England ready to get physical with Fiji

England forward Brett Ferres is expecting an intense, physical game against Fiji when the two nations meet in their final Rugby League World Cup 2013 Group A game at the KC Stadium, Hull, on Saturday (2.30pm).
A week after their impressive 42-0 victory over Ireland, England have prepared for a more testing time against the Bati, who gave Australia a run for their money at St Helens last week.
“Fiji are a tough, physical side,” said Ferres. “I watched them against Ireland and they are very direct in what they do.
“They are very explosive, big human beings who like to whack you so it is going to be a very interesting game, tough and physical and we are looking forward to it.
“We can’t look to the quarter-finals yet – we are all concentrating on Fiji. We have got to get over this hurdle first.
“We are building momentum and looking to keep raising our performances so it is still all about this week.
“I don’t think we were too bad against Ireland. We knew they were going to come out all guns blazing but we matched that early and on and scored a few tries in the first half.
“Overall I think it was quite a convincing performance and it was nice to get that ‘zero’ as well. We played pretty well in patches against Australia but it is like a league competition, you have got to rack the points up and it was nice to get the win and build some form.”
Ferres said that England were buoyed by the sell-out crowd at The John Smith’s Stadium, and with the remaining tickets for Hull selling rapidly, he hopes they will have a similar effect at the KC Stadium.
“It was fantastic on Saturday,” said Ferres. “People say that the crowd act as a 14th man and they get behind you but it is true. You get a bit of a roll on and the crowd start cheering and it does give you a massive lift.
“Playing for Huddersfield, it was extra special for me and hopefully Hull will be the same. It is a great feeling to sing the national anthem in front of 24,000 people.
“We are all trying to get people into England Rugby League and everyone watching us helps that.”

By Liam Williams