‘Friendships on hold’ as hosts England face France

“Friendships will be put on hold” when England host France in their second World Cup group game on Saturday, says England forward forward Mike McMeeken.

France go into the game in Bolton (kick-off 17:00 BST) following a 34-12 victory over debutants Greece.

Victory for either side would all but seal a quarter-final place, with England starting as heavy favourites.

The two teams will meet for the 32nd time but France, ranked ninth in the world, are seeking a first victory in 32 years, being defeated 30-10 in Perpignan in October 2021.

England have three France-based players in their squad who can provider insider knowledge, with captain Sam Tomkins, McMeeken and hooker Michael McIlorum all playing for the Catalans Dragons.

Meanwhile, all but one of the 17 Frenchmen involved against Greece play for – or have played for – the Dragons.

“England versus France is always a great game,” said McMeeken, who has been rested for the game. “They’re a passionate bunch and they’ve got some strong individuals in their team.

“I’m sure we will be tested on Saturday. I’ve trained with them and played with them throughout the whole year so I know a lot of their strengths.

“I’ve got a lot of friends in that French team so I hope they do extremely well in this competition, just not against us. Obviously on Saturday those friendships will be put on hold for 80 minutes.”

‘Squad full of world-class players’

Boss Wane has rotated his squad for the game, providing opportunities to the seven players who missed out on the thumping victory over Samoa.

Wigan forward John Bateman is available after completing a three-game ban, while England’s all-time leading try-scorer Ryan Hall also comes in.

Andy Ackers, Joe Batchelor, Kai Pearce-Paul and Marc Sneyd could all earn their first Test caps.

Leeds prop Mikolaj Oledzki, the first Poland-born player to appear in a Challenge Cup final, is in line to win his second England cap.

“The lads played really well last week so any chance that I get now, I need to make sure that I do everything I can to show Shaun Wane what I am capable of,” he said.

“The squad is full of world-class players and unfortunately there is only 17 that can go on the field each week but every time you get an opportunity, you have to grab it with both hands.

“To get a chance to run out this weekend would be amazing. Putting that England jersey on again is a massive honour.”

France have to ‘come up with something different’

Former Great Britain scrum-half Sean Long is the France assistant coach. He says France will need to showcase their attacking flair and come up with a “few trick plays” if they are going to beat England.

“It’s a massive test for us,” said Long, who takes over as head coach at Championship side Featherstone Rovers next season.

“We’re going to have to all play our best game to beat them, they are such a good team and well drilled.

“We’re known for playing with flair, but we didn’t do that last week against Greece because we didn’t need to.

“So we’re going to have to come up with something different, a bit more flair and a few trick plays. We’re going to have to throw the ball around.”

Squads:

England: Tomkins (c), Watkins, Farnworth, Hall, Welsby, Williams, Burgess, McIlorum, Thompson, Whitehead, Bateman, Radley, Young, Hill, Ackers, Sneyd, Batchelor, Oledzki, Pearce-Paul.

France: Escare, Romano, Langi, Laguerre, Yaha, Mourgue, Gigot, Dezaria, Da Costa, Belmas, Jullien, Seguier, Garcia (c), Pelissier, Sangare, Springer, Goudemand, Le Cam, Rouge.

Match official: Gerard Sutton (referee), Liam Moore and Todd Smith (touch judges), Geoffrey Poumes (reserve referee), Robert Hicks (video referee).