England head coach Shaun Wane says Dom Young has a “good chance” of featuring in their World Cup opener after his eye-catching debut against Fiji.
The Newcastle Knights winger scored a try, had a hand in several others and produced an all-round strong display in England’s 50-0 triumph at Salford on Friday night.
“I thought he did some really good things. He carried the ball strongly out of yardage, and his skill was good,” said Wane.
“That is his form, he’s done some outstanding things for Newcastle this year.
“The thing that impressed me about him most was his carries out of yardage. When you have people the size of him carrying the ball the way he did, I know he finished tries and did some other good things but he was a handful and that troubled Fiji today.
“I’ll look at finalising the Samoa team after a review tomorrow but there’s a good chance (for inclusion) with him.
“He’s been great in camp as well, he’s fitted in well. I’ve been really impressed with him.”
It was a positive performance in the main for England, scoring nine tries from nine different scorers – Andy Ackers, Kallum Watkins, George Williams, Joe Batchelor, Luke Thompson, Mike McMeeken, Mike Cooper and Ryan Hall also crossed following Young’s opener.
On a wet night, playing a Fiji side who were well under par but have still reached the semi-finals of the last three World Cups, Wane could have asked for little more.
“It was very impressive, with the conditions and players not knowing each other that well,” reflected Wane who crucially, has no injury concerns.
“I thought we did really well. Some of the skill we showed was really impressive.
“I’m glad our defence was good. They’re a big, physical team with a lot of experience.
“I think we were very patient with ball, considering the conditions, and did really well.”
