Sam Tomkins has backed England’s young squad to go the Four Nations and make a huge impact, and has quashed suggestions that a lack of experience will cost them dear during the tournament.
With nine uncapped players in the 24-man squad, Tomkins is a relative elder statesman at international level, having made his England debut in 2009.
Daryl Clark, Josh Hodgson and Joe Burgess could make their international bow during England’s opener against Samoa this Saturday, but Tomkins isn’t worried about the inexperience in the camp, rating England’s chances of winning the tournament as “very high”.
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“These lads might not have many caps, but they’ve been picked because they’re the best players we’ve got out there,” Tomkins said.
“The squad is exciting; it’s full of young lads who weren’t really in contention 12 months ago.
“If you’d said last year that Daryl Clark would have played for England then you’d have laughed. However, he’s now the Man of Steel and he’s probably one of the best players in the competition. I wouldn’t worry about people being uncapped at all.
“I rate our chances very highly. We’ve got a good squad together as everyone has seen, and whilst we’re missing a couple of experienced blokes in Kevin Sinfield and James Roby, there’s a lot of young lads in the team who have really stepped up in both Super League and the NRL.
“Daryl Clark stands out; he’s a brilliant player and I really like how he goes about things and the way he plays. But there’s a number of lads like Joe Westerman and Michael Shenton who have been involved with England in the past and have reproduced the form that saw them picked before. I think we’ve assembled a very good squad.”
