England Academy coach John Winder has challenged his side to improve on their 38-0 win over Wales Academy, when the nations meet for the second and final junior Test at Taffs Wells RFC near Cardiff on Friday evening (6.30pm).
The Academy have been in camp since October 11, and Winder wants to round off what has been a so far successful trip, with another commanding performance.
“We want the same again, the same good defence,” said Winder. “We have worked really hard on our defence this week, working on our defensive structure, and it needs to be strong.
“The players are enthusiastic for Friday’s game and we know we can improve. We can improve on the ball and, looking back at the video from Sunday, we missed a few opportunities.
“Although the weather forecast in not great for Friday, today is a nice day so hopefully it will continue. If it does then it will enable the players to get their hands on the ball and express themselves more.”
Rotating his squad, Winder has brought in three fresh faces to start the game. Tyler Dickinson of Huddersfield Giants starts in the front row, Jordan Baldwinson (Wigan Warriors) wears the number 13 shirt and Hull back Jansin Turget completes the changes.
Kruise Leeming and Joe Burgess, of Huddersfield and Wigan respectively, both start from the bench.
“It has been a good camp. It has been a long season for a lot of the players so we have ensured they have had a lot of down time to relax,” said Winder.
“We have had really good facilities to use, playing on 4G pitches, which has helped with the bad weather coming across in waves.
“Now we have got one big game left, which needs one big performance from the team, we have got to show our desire in this last international Test fixture.”
England Academy squad (professional and community clubs shown in brackets):
Ben Austin (Wigan Warriors, Ince Rose Bridge)
Jordan Baldwinson (Leeds Rhinos, Hunslet Warriors)
Joe Burgess (Wigan Warriors, Ince Rose Bridge)
Lewis Charnock (St Helens, Rylands)
Jake Connor (Huddersfield Giants, Siddal)
Nathan Conroy (Bradford Bulls, West Bowling)
Tyler Dickinson (Huddersfield Giants, Siddal)
Oliver Gildart (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
Ryan Hampshire (Wigan Warriors, Normanton)
Ash Handley (Leeds Rhinos, Oulton Raiders)
Toby King (Warrington Wolves, Meltham All Black)
Kruise Leeming (Huddersfield Giants, Siddal)
Rob Lever (Wigan Warriors, Bold Miners)
Alex Mellor (Bradford Bulls, King Cross Park)
Ryan Sutton (Wigan Warriors, Ince Rose Bridge)
Lewis Tierney (Wigan Warriors, Orrel St James)
Jansin Turget (Hull FC, West Hull)
Bobby Tyson-Wilson (Hull FC, West Hull)
Tom Walker (Warrington Wolves, Cockermouth Titans)
George Williams (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
