TWO TO TONGA INJURED PAIR RETURN IS ON

JAMES GRAHAM says it would be disrespectful for England to focus on Tonga’s NRL stars Andrew Fifita and Jason Taumalolo in Saturday’s World Cup semi-final.

The forward duo have taken much of the limelight in their side’s unlikely run to the last four after defecting from Australia and New Zealand respectively.

But Graham, who faces the majority of the Tongan side on a regular basis in the NRL, says there is much more to England’s dangerous opponents.

Graham said: “I’m preparing for all Tonga’s players to play well.

“I know Taumalolo and

Fifita (right) can play very well but there’s more to them than that. I’ve seen enough of Tonga to know how good they can be and we’ll be expecting them to be at their best.

“There’s more to this Tonga team then their forwards.

“People like Konrad Hurrell and Daniel Tupou are probably going to carry the ball more than most, to just talk about their forward pack is probably a bit disrespectful and they’ve creativity there too.

“I know from first-hand experience how good Will Hopoate can be when he gets in those threeon-two situations at the back.”

Graham was a member of the 2013 England side that was shattered by Shaun Johnson’s last-gasp try in the semi-final defeat to New Zealand at Wembley.

But he insists that has not been an issue for the current squad. He added: “I remember 2013 being a really good game if you were watching but sometimes when you have two good teams going up against each other, there’s unfortunately got to be a loser.

“I remember it being a back-and -forth game and being pretty devastated at the very end of it.

“When Shaun Johnson went over, I had that feeling where you want the pitch to swallow you up.

“But this is pretty much a completely different group. We’ve moved on from that now.”

Graham also dismissed any notion Tonga will be an easier opponent than England’s pretournament expected last-four rivals, the Kiwis.

He added: “We just wanted to be in the semi-final. We have that opportunity and whoever we come up against was never really spoken about.

“Tonga are definitely, definitely not an easier option.”