Woolf: ‘England deserve enormous credit’

BY JOHN DAVIDSON

Kristian Woolf gave credit to England after his Tongan side fell in the third Test in Leeds.

Tonga were soundly beaten 26-4 in the third and final Test at Headingley.

“England were exceptionally good,” Woolf said. 

“Sometimes you have to sit back and applaud some of those tries, they’ve played exceptionally well as they have all series. 

“[But] we didn’t deserve that scoreline. If you look at the effort that was put in, I thought we turned up with a great attitude. 

“We showed that in the first set. England deserve enormous credit. Full credit to England.

“We’re disappointed with the results, we’re disappointed to go down 3-0, there’s no doubt about that. But one thing I’m not disappointed with is the way our men have come over here, the way we’ve prepared. 

“Every training session, including this week, they’ve been outstanding. We’ve not been here on holidays. They’ve tried their absolute hardest to prepare well and I think they’ve been that type of effort into every game.

“I’m very proud of them as a group of men.”

Woolf has been in charge of Tonga since 2014 and would be one of, if not, the longest-serving coaches in international rugby league.

The Australian admitted he is unsure about his future with Tonga.

“I’ve got to wait and see,” he said. 

“There’s a lot of things to consider there. Have I got the passion? Yeah I have. 

“It took us a long time to get to 2017 [World Cup]. In 2017, 2018 and 2019 we had a really stable group. A hardened, experienced group that was very stable.

“Covid hurt us a bit. The three-year break and a few of our stalwarts at that age became a bit older and a new group came in. But if every group is going to be as good as we’ve had on this tour, then you enjoy it, you want to be a part of it.

“I’ve loved everything about this tour, I’ve loved everything about this group and it makes you want to be involved again.

“I’ve definitely still got the passion. In 12 months time I’ll be coaching in the NRL and I’ve got to figure out and see where it fits. There’s a lot of things that depend on as well – what the calendar actually looks like and what games are scheduled are a big part of it.”