Showdown with Samoa to be part of triple-header

ENGLAND’S mid-season Test against Samoa will be part of an international triple-header at suburban Sydney’s Campbelltown Sports Stadium, it has been announced.

As part of a May 6 event which has been called ‘Super Saturday’, Papua New Guinea will take on the Cook Islands before Fiji meet Tonga. The triple-header will then culminate in Samoa aiming to make history with a first win over England.

England coach Wayne Bennett is using the match as preparation for the end-of-year World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

“We’re under no illusions that this will be a tough test for us with the majority of the playing group coming from abroad, but we’ll prepare the best we can,” said Bennett.

“The Samoans are always a tough outfit but we’ve got a solid group of players to choose from and I’m looking forward to getting everyone together for the match ahead of the World Cup later this year.”

The Mayor of Campelltown, George Brticevic, said: “It’s fantastic for Campbelltown and the wider Macarthur community to have access to such a diverse, inclusive and exciting festival of international Rugby League, right here in our own backyard.”

The international weekend gets under way the night before, when Australia host New Zealand in the annual ANZAC Test in Canberra. ● LEIGH CENTURIONS have confirmed that the Betfred Super League home fixture against Widnes Vikings on Saturday, April 1 will now have a 4pm kick-off time instead of the previously scheduled 6pm.

Leigh Centurions owner, Derek Beaumont, said: “I would like to apologise to our fans for this change to our planned early evening kick-off and also thank Widnes Vikings for agreeing without issue to this change.

“We had planned to play our games early evening for a number of reasons, primarily to avoid any clashes with local football teams, at the same time as leaving the day time free for family events.

“We also believe there is a better atmosphere early evening under the floodlights which is a better setting for our searchlights and fireworks which have become part of our pre match entertainment.”

He added: “Unfortunately the Safety Advisory Group which advises Leigh Sports Village on safety matters insisted that the club had a police presence for the fixture if the kickoff was at 6pm, which came at a significant cost to the club.

“I hope our fans can understand the position and still attend in numbers and I also extend this to the visiting fans from Widnes.”