England Coach Shaun Wane Calls for Improvement Despite Victory Over Samoa

England coach Shaun Wane stated his team “need to be better” following their 34-18 win against Samoa, which commenced their two-Test series. He remarked that their performance “would not have troubled Australia.” Playing at home in Wigan, England established an early 16-0 advantage. However, a revamped Samoa squad, featuring eight new players, managed to reduce the deficit at different points during the match. Despite moments of exceptional play, England allowed two interception tries. Coach Wane expressed dissatisfaction with their 82% completion rate and the accumulation of penalties, which provided Samoa opportunities to re-enter the game. Wane, currently in his fourth year as England’s head coach, indicated that his squad must eliminate unforced errors to effectively challenge world champions Australia moving forward. He stated, “All we talk about in camp is our standards and how we want to play. We want to play an attractive brand of rugby and defend tough and we went away from that.” Wane added, “That performance would not have troubled Australia. We need to be better, if I am honest. We know what we need to fix as staff and players. It sounds weird saying that after a win and I don’t mean it in a disrespectful way to Samoa. They will say the same thing.” Although pre-match discussions centered on England potentially avenging their World Cup semi-final loss to Samoa from two years prior, Wane maintained that this topic was seldom brought up during preparations. Nevertheless, following their 3-0 series sweep against Tonga a year ago, he is equally focused on ensuring his team sustains its momentum next Saturday at Headingley, with kick-off at 14:30 GMT and an anticipated attendance of approximately 20,000 spectators. In contrast, Samoa’s head coach Ben Gardiner expressed satisfaction with his team’s unity, especially considering they had only conducted six training sessions together before this match. When questioned about a preference for a standard three-match series format, he indicated that such an arrangement would have negatively impacted his players. Gardiner stated, “We wanted to play two Tests – and it has nothing to do with it being a best of three or anything like that. It has to do with the well-being of our players.” He continued, “They have had a large and long year and I know fans want to see three games and I understand that but I think it’s important we take care of their welfare.” Gardiner further explained, “They have travelled all the way over to the other side of the world to put a Test match series on, and from a coach’s point of view, I have to respect that and make sure they go back to their families and be ready to perform in 2025 as well.” He concluded, “Otherwise, what ends up happening is we have three Test matches and we might not have any next year, and I think it’s good to make sure we get a balance.”