Jack Welsby has his eyes set on a battle with Jarome Luai at St James’ Park this Saturday.
St Helens star Welsby played at fullback in England’s warm-up victory over Fiji last week, but with captain Sam Tomkins to come into contention he is likely to move to stand-off against Samoa in the tournament opener.
That could put him in direct competition with Jarome Luai, one of several double NRL-winning Penrith Panthers stars in a well-fancied Samoan squad.
“I’ve seen the Penrith lads, I watched the Grand Final,” said Welsby.
“Brian To’o is a different beast on that wing to what we’re used to over here.
“Jarome Luai is one of the best halfbacks in the world, playing alongside Nathan Cleary, so I’m looking forward to it.
“There are going to be some really big contests individually, and it’s a big contest as a whole.
Welsby is only 21 but he is already a veteran of the big stage, having played in three Super League Grand Finals and a Challenge Cup Final – winning every time.
But he only made his England debut earlier this year and the World Cup stage is another level.
Welsby said: “This feels massive. There’s this buzz around the camp about how big this is, how big an opportunity this is, and how good a squad we’ve got.
“That’s probably been overlooked. We’ve got a really good squad. Obviously, Samoa have a really good squad as well, which is why it’s going to be a high-quality clash.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better first game. It’s going to be really intense and really enjoyable.”
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