BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Shaun Wane says England won’t let their 64-0 mauling of France go to their heads, while Laurent Frayssinous admits his team was “shattered” after the huge defeat to the men in white.
England ran in 11 tries against the French in Warrington in their first game since the World Cup.
Ash Handley and George Williams both bagged hat-tricks in the huge win.
“It was good, I’m very, very happy,” coach Wane said after the match.
“We can be a lot stronger, that’s what excites me. This is a really, really young team. Doing the presentation last night was really emotional with all the debuts.
“We won’t get carried away as France were undone. But, overall, it will stand us in good stead for Tonga.”
England fielded 13 debutants while their opponents also had a number of rookies.
Frayssinous admitted the result was a learning curve for his side.
“The scoreboard is very tough,” the France coach said.
“We’ve got a shattered dressing room. It’s a learning curve for a few kids. What they need to do is play week in week out, like the England boys.
“We’ve got some young players who either play in the French comp, or Championship, or one or two games in Super League. That’s where we are. That’s the reality. We keep on working. We take our medicine.
“I was not expecting to lose 64-0. If I did I would stay at home and have a coffee. The first 20 minutes we did pretty well. But at the back of that they won the ruck too easily, we started to be tired.
“I don’t want England to judge us on that’s scoreline because next time we’ll be better. I can guarantee.
“There is a lot of positives, a lot of young kids who need to play these games. They need to be in the dressing room shattered and keep on learning.”
England were missing their NRL players and a host of Super League stars at Warrington, but still showed France no mercy.
They now face Tonga in a three-match series in October and November in the UK.
“I’m really happy with certain things they worked on,” Wane said.
“They delivered. It was outstanding. I’m very proud as an Englishman. It’s something for us to look forward to and build on.
“I was quite harsh at half-time on our defence. There was a few things that weren’t right with our D.
“We need to get better in a few things, and I saw some improvements in the second half and that was probably the most satisfying thing.
“George Williams was good. I don’t think he deserved man of the match, he’s won enough.
“One of the wingers deserved it. [But] How George’s managed this week, how he spoke, how he’s developed, I’m quite shocked sometimes as I had him when he was young and he was mute and wouldn’t speak.”
Wane praised Leeds winger Handley who finished with three tries.
“He was really good. I was chuffed with him,” he said.
“He’s a really good leader. I’ve been really, really impressed with him.”
