WIGAN and Hull will be firmly back in the frame to host Test matches if next year’s proposed tour of England by Samoa can be signed off.
Leeds’ historic Headingley home, where 15,477 watched Saturday’s series-ending clash with Tonga, is almost sure to get a game should the visit of last year’s beaten World Cup finalists go ahead.
But the RFL is weighing up its options after the first Test against Tonga at St Helens attracted only 12,898 and the second at Huddersfield even fewer at 11,210.
The average BBC viewing figures were 566,000, 642,000 and 695,000 respectively for the three Tests, with a peak audience of 887,000 on Saturday for the final Test, reaching 8.7% of the total audience.
There has been criticism of the governing body for failing to take a Test against Tonga away from the heartlands.
League Express understands there was concern over the financial cost of doing that amid uncertainty over potential revenue.
Newcastle, London and Coventry, all of them among last year’s World Cup host cities, will come into consideration for a Samoa clash, as will Doncaster and Sheffield.
England’s 2022 tournament-opening meeting with Samoa drew 43,199 to Newcastle United’s St James’ Park while the semi-final showdown between the two at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium attracted 40,489.
The DW Stadium at Wigan staged England’s quarter-final against Papua New Guinea, watched by 23,179, while the national team last played at Hull’s MKM Stadium in 2018, when 17,649 turned out for the first Test against New Zealand.
While Shaun Wane’s England won the Tonga series 3-0, Samoa, coached by Penrith Panthers assistant Ben Gardiner, suffered defeats by Australia in Townsville and New Zealand in Auckland in the Pacific Cup.
England will head Down Under for an Ashes tour in 2025 ahead of the 2026 World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere (the hosts are yet to be confirmed).
New Zealand will visit England in 2027 and Australia in 2028.
