THEY may well be rivals for their domestic clubs, but Brad O’Neill and Jez Litten are working together for the good of the England side.
Battles between O’Neill’s Wigan Warriors and Litten’s Hull KR have been fierce in recent seasons, but now both men are fighting for the number nine spot in Brian McDermott’s World Cup side.
O’Neill won that race in the opening round defeat to Tonga and has retained it for Saturday’s clash with France, but the Steve Prescott Man of Steel had nothing but kind words to say about Litten, who will again look to come off the bench in Perth.
“Jez is a really good player. He probably shows different sides, his rugby knowledge and his smarts and just as a person as well – he’s a really good bloke off the field and we’re getting on pretty well,” O’Neill said.
“I think he’s a very skilful, running, attacking threat of a nine, and he’s really tough in defence as well.
“His whole game’s pretty good and he can do both sides of the game pretty well. The way you push each other in training and on the field creates the competition.
“I feel like we’ve got strength in depth in the 23-man squad. There’s players challenging for spots all the way through the team. It’s only good for us and will benefit us in the long run.”
England’s World Cup hopes are hanging by a thread following the opening round 30-12 defeat to Tonga.
England will not only be gunning for big wins against France and Papua New Guinea in the group stages, but McDermott’s men will also be relying on other results going their way in order to advance to the semi-finals of the watered down ten-team tournament.
