By Richard Cowley, Date: 3/7/12
Game two of the 2012 rugby league International Origin series takes place in Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield, on Wednesday July 4. Kick off is scheduled for 7.45pm.
England will be looking to clean sweep the two game series after defeating the Exiles 18 -10 at Langtree Park in St Helens. They will also be looking to lift their intensity after coping criticism regarding their lacklustre preformance in game one.
Game one attracted 11,083 fans to the 18,000 seat stadium showing the series still has some way to go in convincing English fans that the International Origin series has the potential to rival the State of Origin series played in Australia.
The Galpharm Stadium has a capacity of 24.500 and would require 20,000 plus fans to create the right atmosphere worthy of an international match.
Wednesday nights game could have more riding on it than just the result. If England and the Exiles put on a good show which is backed up by a decent crowd, we might be seeing the International Origin Series for years to come. If the game lacks intensity and a poor crowd turns up then the series might just end up in the archives of rugby league history.
Lets hope both sides bring a bucket-load of passion to the game on Wednesday night and we really do see the potential of the International Origin series.
England squad: C Ablett (Leeds), R Atkins (Warrington), T Briscoe (Hull), D Brough (Huddersfield), J Broughton (Salford), R Burrow (Leeds), G Carvell (Warrington), J Charnley (Wigan), E Crabtree (Huddersfield), L Cudjoe (Huddersfield), L Farrell (Wigan), J Hodgson (Hull KR), J Jones-Buchanan (Leeds), L Mossop (Wigan), S Ratchford (Warrington), J Roby (St Helens), M Smith (Salford), S Taylor (Hull KR), J Wilkin (St Helens).
Exiles squad: A Gelling (Wigan), A Laffranchi (St Helens), A Kaufusi (London Broncos), B Hodgson (Warrington, capt), C Mika (Hull KR), D Holdsworth (Salford), D Millard (Catalan), E Lauaki (Wigan), F Meli (St Helens), H L’Estrange (Bradford), J Chan (Huddersfield), J Monaghan (Warrington), J Moon (Salford), K Leuluai (Leeds), L Withers (Hull KR), M Dobson (Hull KR), S Moa (Hull), S Dureau (Catalan), S Soliola (St Helens), S Menzies (Catalan), W Manu (Hull).
