Marc Sneyd hailed England’s “maverick” players after another World Cup success but admitted the squad’s still miffed.
The Salford scrum-half, 31, made his Test debut in Saturday’s 42-18 destruction of France with Jack Welsby switched to the bench. England are motoring through the group stage and Sneyd, who kicked seven from seven goals, played his usual calm game. He said: “That’s just the way I am. That’s part of my game, being a level-headed player around the pitch and letting the maverick-style players do their bit.
“I loved every minute of it. It was just incredible to be out there and get the job done. Obviously the performance wasn’t as good as last week, but again you’re in a tournament and a win’s a win. You’re one step closer to that next level.”
The “maverick” players Sneyd refers to are the likes of Welsby, who came on to play full-back and centre, as well as blistering wingers Dom Young and Ryan Hall. France boss Laurent Frayssinous reckons England can win the World Cup. It’s no surprise with that firepower in their ranks. Sneyd added: “Those kinds of players are special.
“They are the people that probably get the fans in and bring that noise and excitement in the stands. To be on the field, I get to see it first-hand as you can see it unfold. When Jack comes on he just wants the ball in his hand. He’s playing on a field with his mates, every week he plays. It’s enjoyable to be a part of and watch them do their thing.”
Impressive England powered into an early 18-0 lead but switched off to concede two tries and see France just 18-12 down at the break. It led to some harsh words from boss Shaun Wane at the interval who expected more from his side and knows they could be punished if similarly lax later in the tournament. Sneyd conceded: “He wasn't too happy if I’m honest. But he had every right to be upset.
“We probably knew he wasn’t going to be happy. If Shaun didn’t do it then I think some of the more experienced players would have done it anyway. We probably needed it because, although we were in front, it was the first half was a tale of two halves. The first was perfection in every little thing we did and then the second 20 minutes of the first half were way off. We got comfortable too early. So it’s something to work on.”
England are expected to ease past Greece at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane on Saturday to clinch top spot and a likely quarter-final with Papua New Guinea. But ex-Hull FC star Sneyd said: “They’ll be out there to give us a dig, I assume. They’ll be full of enthusiasm and they’ll try and upset the party. They’re obviously the underdogs going into the game, so sometimes being the underdog can help teams be more enthusiastic. We just have to not allow that to happen.”
Asked for the mood in the dressing room, Sneyd conceded: “Probably a little bit of disappointment if I’m honest. We know we’re a lot better than that. But at the end of the day we’ve just put 42 points on a pretty decent France side, so we can’t be too upset. But we’ll still look back and be like we should have done this better, we should have done that better. So we move on to Greece.”
Sneyd will hope to get another shot against the minnows although Wane may decide to go with his original half-back pairing of Welsby and George Williams who were brilliant together in the 60-6 rout of Samoa. Meanwhile, centre Kallum Watkins is likely to miss that Greece clash after coming off with a head knock but Kai Pearce-Paul and Joe Batchelor are both set for their first appearances of the tournament. France are likely to need to beat Samoa in their final outing to qualify for the knockout stages.
