Shaun Wane has promised improvement from England after gaining his first win in charge.
The 30-10 victory over France in Perpignan on Saturday followed a 26-24 defeat by the Combined Nations All Stars at Warrington in June in the 57-year-old’s first game at the helm.
Wane, who succeeded Wayne Bennett in February 2020 but had to wait for match action because of the pandemic, learned in August that the World Cup had been put back to next year.
The cross-Channel trip was on the same day England would have taken on Samoa in the tournament opener at St James’ Park, Newcastle.
His side led France 20-0 after 18 minutes before the display became disjointed.
“In the opening stages, we were outstanding,” said the former Wigan coach, who earlier this month returned to the club as ‘leadership and management director’, a role he insists will not impact on his work with England.
“It’s very hard to keep that going. Considering everything the lads have been through – we’ve only had three field sessions as a team together and we had a tough travel through the night – I’d have taken 30-10.
“We did a lot of good things, but we’ll also get a lot from the video as we prepare for the World Cup.”
Wane believes France’s fightback provided his side with a more useful experience than would otherwise have been the case, adding: “It ended up being a Test match.
“The ruck was slow when it would have suited us being a bit quicker. We could have done things to alleviate that.
“I thought France had a dig. They did some good things and they were a threat at times.
“In the second quarter, we made eight or nine errors and penalties. If we are composed and our detail is good, then we’ll be hard to beat.”
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