CURRIE’S HOT ON REVENGE
Ben wants final shot at Aussies
LATE call-up Ben Currie has urged England fans to keep the faith.
Wayne Bennett’s men lost their opening World Cup game 18-4 to Australia in Melbourne on Friday.
But Warrington forward Currie believes the Kangaroos will be worried if they meet again in the final on December 2.
He said: “One hundred per cent I’m more confident we can beat them despite a defeat.
“We’ve been confident all along and we know we’ve a really good shot at winning it.
“Even though we lost we’ve come away with some confidence. Ask anyone, they’re really not too downhearted.”
Currie, 23, was not expected to play after only making his comeback from a year-long knee injury recently.
But Alex Walmsley’s pain at missing out on a debut because of a virus was Currie’s gain.
He was named on the bench for only his sixth appearance of the year and performed well in a gutsy England display.
He said: “All week Alex has been 50-50. He picked up a virus early on and unfortunately he couldn’t shake it off.
“I prepared as though I was going to play and I found out I was playing on the morning of the game.
“It was fast and tough. I’ve not played too many games but I felt good and really fit.”
England made a dream start with an early try from winger Jermaine McGillvary, the tourists’ outstanding player.
They then survived almost constant pressure thanks to some terrific
defence before two errors led to two Aussie tries.
England were lucky to only trail 10-4 at the break and it looked likely that they would wilt in the second half, having used up so much defensive effort.
But they held firm, rattled Australia with near misses from James Roby and Ryan Hall, and the Roos only sealed the win in the dying minutes.
Currie, who switched between second row and centre, added: “James Graham said that over the years that first half has ended up being fifty-odd points and England have got hammered.
“They might have broken through us a few times but to show the character we did to turn up for each other, to still make those cover tackles, was great.
“I don’t think they won it – it was more a case of us losing it, we made some silly errors.
“We know we can defend against them now and we know we can score against them.
“We’ve got to beat Lebanon and France and finish second, maybe first, and move on and then hopefully meet the Aussies again in the final.” MAN OF STEEL Luke Gale will be writing exclusively for the Daily Star Sunday
Cup.
Here, speaking on behalf of Kingstone Press, the Official Cider of Rugby League, he tells us about life on and off the pitch with England...
WE may have lost our opening World Cup game to Australia but I am still so proud of the boys.
Of course we wanted to win and we probably brought about our own undoing by putting ourselves under pressure in the first half.
But we are far from down-hearted because we know there are a lot of positives to take out of that game.
Just look at the second half and how much better we were, if anyone has any doubts.
That was a proper Test match, very tough and one of the most intense games I’ve ever played in, but we matched Australia a lot of the time. We know we will get better and we’ll be looking to do exactly that against Lebanon in Sydney on Saturday.
They might not be one of the favourites and some people might expect us to post a big score but we’re not thinking like that.
It’s important that we review the Australia game, look at what we did well and not so well, and go through the processes.
Lebanon won’t be push-overs, not when they have a legend like Robbie Farah as their captain.
It will be a good game for us because, after any defeat, you just can’t wait to get out there again.
On a lighter note, all the squad went to the races in Melbourne yesterday which I was delighted about.
I have got a syndicate with a few horses and it’s a great way to relax and take your mind off rugby. And on a tour as long as this, it’s good for the lads.
A few of them are keen and Sam Burgess thinks he
NOT AGAIN: Currie (left) and Co after loss
knows his horses but I reckon he’s clueless. Scott Taylor is another and I’ve got him into one of the syndicates.
Then there’s our coach Wayne Bennett, who loves talking racing and the first thing he asked me on tour was how my horses were doing.
Sadly they are not going too well – I’ve got too many slow ones at the moment. NEW IDEA: Eddie Jones a bit far for just a day! So Steve Borthwick gave Warren Gatland a ring to see if he was up for it. He was keen so we agreed to go halfway to Bristol.
“There will be a match of about 12 large scrums and 15 line-outs. It will be ripping!
“Just get stuck in and see who’s got the biggest chest!
“There’s an injury risk but we need to improve our scrummaging.
“Seeing each other every day means a certain familiarity grows.
“We need to expose them to different areas.
“We wanted Wayne Barnes to referee but they wanted Nigel Owens, so we’ve bowed to their wishes. Nigel’s one of the best referees in the world so we’re lucky.”
On the Welsh scrum, Jones said: “They’re good and we’re going to have a good contest.
“There will be a bit of feeling in it and it’s going to mean something.
“The Georgian coach is coming over soon to spend time with us, so maybe we can also organise something against them too.”