ROOS AND SHINE

Roby’s wake-up call to end Oz agony

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JAMES ROBY and Sean O’Loughlin are rare breeds in the England camp – and Roby is sick of it.

The pair are the only players who have beaten Australia and that was way back in 2006 with Great Britain.

Since then the Kangaroos have clocked up 10 victories and Roby says it has got to stop.

The St Helens hooker, who will be 32 during the World Cup, said: “It’s time we beat them and we believe we can.”

Roby admits he never thought the Roos’ rule would become so dominant again when the Lions beat them 11 years ago.

He was 20, in his first international tournament, and thought the world was at his feet after the 23-12 Tri-Nations win in Sydney. It was their first win in the southern hemisphere for 14 years and Roby thought he’d made it.

Eleven years later, he’s still waiting for the second instalment of that story against Australia but insists it will come in next week’s World Cup opener.

Waiting

He said: “I was the kid then and I was having a great time. We won the treble at Saints, I made my GB debut and we beat Australia.

“I never thought we’d be still waiting now to beat them again. We’ve played them nearly every year and come up short a few times.

“But that’s all in the past. This is a fresh group and hopefully we can right a few wrongs in that first game of the World Cup.”

Roby was overlooked for last year’s Four Nations and missed out again for this year’s midseason Test match against Samoa.

But he was determined to fight his way back, saying: “Competition for places brings out the best in us all.

“I was never bitter about missing out but I was determined to get noticed by playing well for Saints.

“This might be my last chance to go on tour to Australia and it’s exciting because potentially we know we can do well.”

England play a warm-up game against an Affiliated States representative team in Perth on Friday before their opener against Australia in Melbourne next week.