Wane’s card trick inspires Makinson to five-try haul as England
PERHAPS Shaun Wane should try taking money off Tommy Makinson every week.
In England’s team hotel the night before their World Cup quarter-final, Wane won £60 from his winger by beating him in a game of cards. ‘He was absolutely wounded,’ laughed the head coach. Well, the next day at the DW Stadium, Makinson took that pain out on Papua New Guinea. In England’s rugby league history, 11 players have scored four individual tries in an international, including Dom Young against Greece last week. But no one had managed five — until Makinson on Saturday.
Playing in his home town of Wigan, the St Helens star notched a hat-trick before half-time and then made history with two more after the break. He also kicked five goals to take his points tally to 30 — another England record in a World Cup game.
On a day to remember, Makinson, spoke to the Princess of Wales when she greeted the players on the pitch prior to kick-off. ‘She was great,’ said the 31-year-old. ‘It was a 20-second chat. We will never get it again.’ Makinson also knows he may never get the chance to win a World Cup again. ‘It’s special to get the points and the tries but there are much bigger things at stake,’ he said. ‘I want to be a World Cup winner.’
Next up for England is Saturday’s semi-final with Samoa at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium after Samoa won a brutal clash with Tonga 20-18 yesterday in front of a crowd of 12,674 in Warrington.
Wane warned it will be a massive challenge, but said the same about this quarter-final and they cruised it, with Young, Tom Burgess, George Williams and Kallum Watkins all scoring tries before half-time. The way England are playing, there seems little chance they will slip up in the semis. Credit must go to Wane for how he has brought his team together in a short space of time. Wane may have only mentioned his cards win as a light-hearted anecdote, but it is an example of the relaxed environment he has built, even throwing a fancy Halloween party last week. ‘It is a family atmosphere,’ he said. ‘The team spirit is unbelievably good.’ Wane will seek to further forge that bond today on a team trip to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, where they will pay tribute to the fallen members of the armed forces. ‘It’s going to be heart-wrenching for
the players, but a big help to them to understand the history of our country and why we should be so proud to be English.’ There are few people as proud to be English as Wane, which is why he was so disappointed not to meet Saturday’s royal guest, Kate.
‘I didn’t get to speak to her which I’m gutted about,’ he said. ‘I thought the team manager was going to organise that.’ But that was the only thing that went wrong for Wane.