It was another special weekend for Saints internationally as England won their test series with New Zealand and France qualified for the World Cup.
Tommy Makinson was simply sensational, scoring a hat-trick in England’s 20-14 win over the Kiwis while Jonny Lomax and Luke Thompson were stellar too.
Makinson said: “It was a special moment, I really enjoyed it and it means a lot to me. To get over the line with team spirit was a good performance.
“It was a good performance, not just by myself, but everyone. I don’t think he (Wayne Bennett) gets the credit he deserves, what he’s doing is special and he fills us all with confidence.”
France became the ninth nation to qualify for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup with a 24-10 win over Ireland.
Theo Fages starred in the victory while James Bentley took home his second cap for Ireland.
England Knights couldn’t repeat their first test performance in PNG as they went down 32-22 to the Kumuls.
Matty Lees once again started at prop.
“The Kumuls ran a bit harder than us and had more control,” Coach Paul Anderson said. “We got taught a lesson. At 18-6 with about 10 seconds to go before half-time, conceding a try had a deciding factor on our attitude. Over the two games we’ve made too many errors.
“But this tour was about exposing a group of our young players to something completely different, out of their comfort zone. The more we do this, the more we can expose our players to these environments, the better our players will be.
“The last two weeks for me has been two of the best of my career, in regards to enjoyment levels.”
Match Action (Liam Platt)
