JUNIOR NSEMBA is confident that England can gel in time for Saturday’s World Cup opener in Perth.
Brian McDermott will take charge of his first game as national-team coach against Tonga and it’s a potentially pivotal one for their semi-final chances.
Based in Australia as an assistant at Gold Coast Titans, McDermott is only now holding his first training sessions having been appointed in April.
There are also new players to integrate into the squad, with NRL stars Hugo Savala, Max King and Ben Talty in line for first caps alongside Zach Eckersley.
Wigan Warriors backrower Nsemba only has one cap himself, earned against Samoa in 2024 before missing out on selection for last autumn’s Ashes defeat to Australia.
But the 22-year-old said: “Everyone has played the game before, it’s just about building those connections and we’ve got time to do that before the Tonga game.
“It’s really important for players and staff to know each other. It’s good to know how your middle likes to move so you can get the push off him, it’s good to know what your half likes to do, and it’s good to build a good connection with your coach so they know how you grow.
“It’s a good opportunity to get to know the lads, as there are a few I’ve not met before. When it comes to training, we just need to make sure everything is nailed to the top level.”
England’s preparation has so far consisted of video calls with McDermott and Carl Jennings, a vastly experienced conditioning guru.
“We need to make sure we’re hydrated and we’re sleeping well,” Nsemba added.
“We’re having good meetings with Carl Jennings and Brian, talking about the right things we need to do.
“It’s a great opportunity to showcase what we’re about. Personally it’s a step up from club level. We’ve got a job to do – we want to get the biggest trophy.
“We’ll need to get our connection right. The boys want payback because last year (the Ashes whitewash) wasn’t nice. Hopefully this year you’ll see a different side to us.
“When we go over there, we can’t start slowly. We need to start at a pace they can’t keep with.”
