SHAUN WANE says he is excited for the start of knockout rugby and is “fairly close” to knowing his team for this weekend’s World Cup quarter-final.
England are likely to face Papua New Guinea at Wigan’s DW Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm) for a place in the semi-finals.
They completed their group-stage campaign with a third convincing win from three last week, following defeats of Samoa and France with a 94-4 defeat of Greece – their biggest ever World Cup victory.
Head coach Wane said: “Next week will be fantastic – we have to win and that excites me. I can’t wait.
“We’re at sudden death, we’re going to train hard and watch lots of video. It’s game on, these are the weeks I like with the pressure that we have to win.”
Every member of Wane’s 24-man squad has played at least once so far and their performances have provided plenty of food for thought.
He said: “I’m fairly close (to knowing my team). The last three weeks have been hard, I’ve given game time to everybody.
“This week will be easy. It will be the 17 players who can get us the win against Papua New Guinea, and that’s going to be a different challenge.
“I’m just glad that over the last few weeks, we’ve had real physical training sessions so the players have been ready for every game. If people think we’re underdone, they’d be wrong.”
