ENGLAND boss Shaun Wane faces a critical day with the Ashes series on the line in the second Test at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool.

Taking the contest with Australia to a decider in Leeds is the goal but England will need to show a significant improvement to have a chance of doing that.

Wane also has his work cut out to quieten any noise around his position amid great disgruntlement from supporters after the 26-6 defeat at Wembley.

Some personnel changes have been trailed in advance – AJ Brimson will debut at fullback with Jack Welsby dropped – and others strongly hinted at.

Here’s how Wane is planning to turn things around and ensure this Saturday is different to the horrors of last.

End sets well

The England coach’s biggest complaint after the first match was their inability to finish sets effectively, with their kicking game rarely troubling Australia.

Mikey Lewis was brought into the side following his Grand Final heroics with Hull KR but it appears Wane is prepared to reverse that change and bring back Harry Smith, who performed well in the Tonga and Samoa series in the past two years, to partner skipper George Williams.

Wane said during the week: “We’ll challenge them in more areas. We’ll end our sets better, hopefully, and the knock-on effect from doing that will be huge. We just put ourselves under so much pressure (last week).”

Be clinical

England arguably had four good openings to score tries at Wembley before finally getting on the board with Daryl Clark’s late effort.

Australia had more, of course, but if the second Test is to be a contest it’s imperative the home side ice the moments that come their way.

To that end, Brimson will play against the country of his birth, with England fans hoping he can have the influence Kangaroos fullback Reece Walsh did last weekend – at both ends of the field.

“He’s special,” Wane said of Walsh. “The way he stopped those tries, they took a complete risk, but our execution has to better.”

More physicality

Wane has also demanded a better effort in the physical stakes and England must take the fight to Australia up front more effectively.

Morgan Smithies, an impressive figure at Canberra Raiders this season, has been brought into the squad to bring that intensity, as well as Leeds Rhinos’ Mikolaj Oledzki, with Ethan Havard sacrificed.

“I want the team to go out on Saturday and I want it to look like a proper Test match,” said Wane.

“It didn’t look like a Test match to me (at Wembley). It wasn’t physical. They were better in many areas so this week has to look better.”

Better individual performances

It also can’t be denied that for any team shortcomings, some of the individual displays weren’t up to the required level either.

That’s led to some harsh criticism in the Australian media for the standards of English rugby league, but Wane came out in defence of his charges.

“We know what our players are capable of,” he insisted.

“The NRL people don’t yet, and that hurts me. But I’ll feel a lot better on Saturday if we really have a go at them, attack the way we can attack and defend as physically as possible.”

With the Ashes on the line, this is the time to prove a point.