TOBY KING believes France can be a Rugby League power in future – as he eyes up a trip to Toulouse in two months’ time.
The Warrington centre made his England debut in last season’s mid-season fixture between the two sides at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, after previously representing Ireland.
He then went on to play in the first two ties of the autumn’s three-match home series against Tonga, scoring his maiden England try in the opener at St Helens.
Shaun Wane’s national team are next in action on Saturday, June 29, when they play the French in a double-header at Stade Ernest Wallon alongside the equivalent women’s fixture.
England’s men won 64-0 (as did the women) in last year’s clash in Warrington, although England only won 30-10 the last time they played away at France, in 2021 at Stade Gilbert Brutus.
Coach Wane won’t announce a squad until the week of the match but King, a Grand Final winner last season while on loan at Wigan, is among the players with a strong chance of making the cut.
“Hopefully I can keep playing well and you never know. It’s a goal, it’s definitely always in the back of your mind,” he said.
King has had first-hand experience of the strength of the French game already this season, with his Warrington side suffering their only two defeats to date at the hands of Catalans.
The Dragons have a strong core of homegrown players, while there are also French players at other Super League clubs including Leeds, Wigan and Huddersfield.
“Hopefully all the first-team French players can play,” added King.
“It’ll be a right good battle then, because the way Rugby League is going in France, it’s going up and up.
“Catalans have really impressed me. They’re probably everyone’s second-favourite team.
“To think where they’ve come from and the French kids they’re bringing up, they’re just as good as the English players now.
“In the future, if they keep going and Toulouse can follow that path as well, France can be a real tier-one nation.”
First published in League Express newspaper, Issue 3,427 (April 22, 2024)
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