Sun 22 Oct: International: England v Tonga (at Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens) KO 2.30pm

[League Express]

Discuss England v Tonga here.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

Very excited for this 

My kids are looking forward to the Sipi Tau

England just too strong/settled to English conditions for the first game and we win by 3 scores I think 

Hoping some chanting gets going.....are they brining in the England football band again? Mich as I didn't like the Sheffield game it was at least nice and shouty/cheery

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

England 4/9 to win with bookies 

[Rovers13]

4 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

England 4/9 to win with bookies 

What price are tonga? Might be worth a few quid. I don’t think any of these games will be easy for England, tonga are full of NRL players. 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Rovers13

[DavidM]

14 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

My kids are looking forward to the Sipi Tau

It’s brilliant to see live

[Thunder Road]

England by 3 scores at least 

[Rovers13]

Just put £50 on Tonga got 5-2 seen as though your all saying England will win, as RL fans are known to be wrong more than right

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

46 minutes ago, DavidM said:

It’s brilliant to see live

Yes it will hopefully be a spine tingler 

I always advocate for us to do a Morris dance back....full mobile Maypole too

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

1 hour ago, Rovers13 said:

What price are tonga? Might be worth a few quid. I don’t think any of these games will be easy for England, tonga are full of NRL players. 

15/8 

It will definitely be a more competitive and worthwhile fixture than the other 'rugby' international that England are playing at the weekend 

The England public school XV are a 5-1 massive outsiders to beat the South African public school XV the day before 

[Rovers13]

Just now, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

15/8 

It will definitely be a more competitive and worthwhile fixture than the other 'rugby' international that England are playing at the weekend 

The England public school XV are a 5-1 massive outsiders to beat the South African public school XV the day before 

Yeah onion team will get hammered lol, but I don’t watch it anyway bores me to tears lol. 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

2 minutes ago, Rovers13 said:

Yeah onion team will get hammered lol, but I don’t watch it anyway bores me to tears lol. 

Will be lovely if they get hammered in a borefest and then the Tonga game is a banger 

[UTK]

Don't mind an upset here, bit of a flipped script in respect of the buildup to the RLWC opener last year (though I don't expect anything in the realm of the shock we saw there). 

Tonga squad has been in camp for 2 weeks now whereas the Wigan and Catalans contingent would've enjoyed their respective celebrations/commiserations before joining camp early this week. In what I can only imagine might be a first, if not a significant rarity - the Tongan spine will have more International experience than their Tier 1 counterparts: Lolohea (17 Tests) and Havili (16) are certified veterans of the arena now while Koula (3) and Katoa (3) were both initiated during the WC last year. Comparatively, Welsby (6) and Clark (10) have seen the arena before but the likely halves pairing consists of a debutant in Lewis and Smith who only has a mid-season debut against an understrength France to his name.

If Woolf decides to run Hopoate over Koula at fullback I would probably throw this upset out the window. I wouldn't be surprised if he Hoppa lines up on the wing in the absence of Tonga's most-capped player in Daniel Tupou and that scenario would be much more palatable. Farnworth and Wardle are big losses as an understrength Tongan set of outside backs was looking like a mismatch and a half for England but that gap closes a touch now.

With all of the above considered I think the highly experienced and immensely talented Tongan forwards come out the gate firing and set a very strong platform for Tonga's halves, expect Isaiya Katoa to leverage the additional season of experience he's gained with the Dolphins and demonstrate why the hype surrounding him is warranted. I don't love backing against the toughness inherent within England's pack in front of their own fans but I think the lack of experience in the spine leaves them open to being ambushed by a Tongan side on a mission to create history in the first test.

If England do cop an upset or receive a big scare in the first test I expect them to kick into gear immediately and be ready to go at Huddersfield. 

Edited October 19, 2023 by UTK

[DavidM]

56 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Yes it will hopefully be a spine tingler 

I always advocate for us to do a Morris dance back....full mobile Maypole too

We should do the fish slapping dance and every player slaps a Tongan with a fish 

Edited October 19, 2023 by DavidM

[Just Browny]

Surely the traditional England dance would be a sweaty hug while Mr Brightside is blasted out over the PA.

[StandOffHalf]

Koula should be FB with Hoppa in the centres or wing, if fit.

I quite fancy the Tongans for the upset here. They've had a week in camp now. I think they've got the forwards to go with England and the class in Lolohea, Katoa and Koula to play football.

[17 stone giant]

I have no idea but I've guessed at England by 7 to 12 points.

[overtheborder]

2 hours ago, Just Browny said:

Surely the traditional England dance would be a sweaty hug while Mr Brightside is blasted out over the PA.

They'd probably sing louder than for the anthem to be fair!

[Dunbar]

6 hours ago, Rovers13 said:

Just put £50 on Tonga got 5-2 seen as though your all saying England will win, as RL fans are known to be wrong more than right

I wouldn't worry about Rugby League fans being more wrong than right.

I would be more worried about the fact that bookies are much more often right than wrong.

[Rovers13]

23 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I wouldn't worry about Rugby League fans being more wrong than right.

I would be more worried about the fact that bookies are much more often right than wrong.

That is true but gives more interest in watching it too and can’t back England at that price lol.

[Damien]

7 hours ago, DavidM said:

It’s brilliant to see live

Tonga v Samoa was epic to see live.

[moorside roughyed]

Going to the match with my son. Both looking forward to it regardless of the attendance. I think you should support your country. Hopefully a good game with us winning obviously. COME ON ENGLAND!

[17 stone giant]

9 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

It will definitely be a more competitive and worthwhile fixture than the other 'rugby' international that England are playing at the weekend 

The England public school XV are a 5-1 massive outsiders to beat the South African public school XV the day before 

I was going to suggest England and Tonga should play for the ETON trophy. Might have got a few rich union fans to come up and watch. Could have made a killing selling Leigh lobby as beef bourguignon for double the price.

[eal]

I'm thinking an upset is on the cards and England will win.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

6 hours ago, eal said:

I'm thinking an upset is on the cards and England will win.

England are favourites for this mate....I know most of the NRL players in the Tongan  team and am aware they are decent. However England have quality all over the park too and home conditions ...first test won't be close and England by plenty 

[Keith989]

39 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

England are favourites for this mate....I know most of the NRL players in the Tongan  team and am aware they are decent. However England have quality all over the park too and home conditions ...first test won't be close and England by plenty 

It could be like what happened with Samoa in the world cup; where the first game is a blowout but the more time the Tonga team has together, the better they'll get.