By Liam Williams, Date: 1/11/13
Ireland head coach Mark Aston has named his 19 man squad to play England at John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday (14:30)
James Hasson has placed extra importance on Ireland’s second group game of Rugby League World Cup 2013, when the Wolfhounds take on England at The John Smith’s Stadium, Huddersfield, on Saturday (2.30pm).
After defeat against Fiji at Spotland, Rochdale, Mark Aston’s side need at least one win to make it through the group stages, and despite admitting that it is important his tastes victory for a first time in RLWC2013, Hasson doesn’t want his team to get distracted.
“It is a must-win game,” said Hasson. “But we can’t think like that. We just have to carry on as we were.
“We need to believe in ourselves and believe that we can beat England and keep going as we were.”
“We were a bit deflated after the Fiji game but at the same time we can’t be too down because we know we put a good performance in.
“We were quite happy with how we played and there is a short turnaround before the England game so we have got to keep our heads up and prepare for that.”
As one of the nations who skipped a warm-up match before RLWC2013, Hasson was proud of his side gelling so quickly, to put in a positive performance against the Fijians, despite coming out on the wrong end of the result.
“We dug in deep and gave it everything we had,” said Hasson. “Unfortunately we didn’t get the result we wanted but we can take solace from the fact that we gave it our best.
“We didn’t have a warm-up game so we were still learning how every individual plays but I feel we know that now, and we have set the bar for how we should be playing against England and Australia.
“We could definitely improve on our attacking. We need to create more chances and when we get them we need to take them.
“We don’t need to reassess anything, we just need to keep building throughout the week and improve everywhere we can.”
Tickets for the RLWC2013 fixture England v Ireland at the John Smith’s Stadium, Huddersfield, on Saturday November 2 (2.30pm) are sold out. Tickets are available for Ireland’s final group game against Australia at Thomond Park, Limerick on Saturday November 9 (8.00pm) and cost from as little as €30 for adults and €25 concessions. To purchase your ticket, either buy now at www.eticketing.co.uk/rlwc or call the 24-hour ticketing hotline on 0844 847 2013.
Ireland 2013 RLWC team to take on England
Dave Allen
Luke Ambler
Bob Beswick
Damien Blanch
Danny Bridge
Ben Currie
Liam Finn
Simon Finnigan
Kurt Haggerty
James Hasson
Rory Kostjasyn
Stuart Littler
Tyrone McCarthy
James Mendeika
Anthony Mullally
Apirana Pewhairangi
Pat Richards
Joshua Toole
Brett White
