Jack Welsby to become England’s youngest-ever captain England Head Coach Shaun Wane has named his 19-strong squad to face Tonga in the opening match of a historic three-game autumn international series at St Helens’ Totally Wicked Stadium this Sunday. The side will be led by St Helens full-back and three-time Super League Dream Team player Jack Welsby – at 22 years of age England’s youngest-ever captain and the first Saints player to lead England since James Graham against Australia in the 2010 Four Nations competition. Hull KR half-back Mikey Lewis is set to make his international debut after an impressive season during which he helped the Robins reach both the Betfred Challenge Cup Final at Wembley and the Betfred Super League play-off semi-finals. Lewis was previously part of the mid-season international squad but didn’t feature back in April against France. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Jack Welsby to become England’s youngest-ever captain England Head Coach Shaun Wane has named his 19-strong squad to face Tonga in the opening match of a historic three-game autumn international series at St Helens’ Totally Wicked Stadium this Sunday. The side will be led by St Helens full-back and three-time Super League Dream Team player Jack Welsby – at 22 years of age England’s youngest-ever captain and the first Saints player to lead England since James Graham against Australia in the 2010 Four Nations competition. Hull KR half-back Mikey Lewis is set to make his international debut after an impressive season during which he helped the Robins reach both the Betfred Challenge Cup Final at Wembley and the Betfred Super League play-off semi-finals. Lewis was previously part of the mid-season international squad but didn’t feature back in April against France. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Erm, wasn't Andy Farrell England captain at 21?

Technically no, 21yrs 4 mths became GB capt, not England.

26th June 1996. England beat Wales 26-12 with Farrell as captain. 21 years and 27 days old.

Fair play to him. If Waney sees him as captain material then that’s all good in my books

Harry Smith hasn’t missed a goal since Lee Briers got back in the country

Why is Wellens in the Tonga camp?

What a ball from Welsby for the Johnstone try.

What’s happened to Bateman? Absolutely garbage.

Agreed. Bateman is a shadow of his former self

Shaun Wane had a pop at Wellens in his pre-match interview as well for deciding to go with Tonga. The more I see of Wellens as a coach, the more I think he’s just Woolfe’s poodle and can’t be his own man. Being with Tonga pretty much confirms that.

Just couldn't get into that game today for some reason but from what I saw Smith played well and Lewis was threatening at times. Welsby quality as usual.

England's biggest task over the next few years will be developing forwards with size and strength that can match the best from the Southern Hemisphere. We have some very good forwards like McMeeken, Lees, Smithies, Havard, Oledzki etc but replacing the Burgess brothers, Graham, Whitehead, O'Loughlin and co will be tough.

I enjoyed the game. The spine was excellent throughout I thought. I do worry a little that Waney won’t give enough opportunities to young forwards for them to develop ahead of the next World Cup. If you want to win in the here and now, then Hill and Whitehead were again good performers but do we need to use this next 2-3 years to build towards that and be pretty ruthless? I think there’s a case for it.

He has now

I agree it was a super pass (world class) however I thought his overall performance was below average. Smith was my MoM, Radley was outstanding.

agreed. MIA in defence on more than one occasion and sometimes a bit of a headless chicken in possession. With no Sam T, are there any other full-back options? Not saying Welsby should be dropped, just wondering. Harry Smith looks to have cemented his place in the side, very good all round.

Was Harry Newman actually playing in that game?

Agree with this and I’m one of Welsby’s biggest fans. Thought he tried too hard and lacked composure. Let himself down as captain with the pushing and shoving incident too. Comes to something when Newman is the peacemaker.

Obviously his floated pass for the try was exceptional.

Thought Smith, Radley and McMeeken went well and an honourable mention to Knowles who didn’t take a backward step.

Have to say also I do agree with Wane pre-match. Wellens as assistant of Tonga doesn’t sit well with me, plotting the downfall of a country that he was Assistant coach for over a number of years. Given the fact that he’s the Saints head coach and he’s finding weaknesses in his own clubs players makes it stranger. It worked to some degree though with Welsby being out of position.

Feels like we’ve had Batemans best years looking at that. He’s always had that determination and aggression that made him a surprise package and meant he played way above his weight but he looked his weight today and there is no surprise there anymore. He looks to have lost a bit of his edge to me.

Bateman hasn't really done anything of note for a good 12 - 18 months. He was good during his second spell with us, but he certainly wasn't great. Since then he's moved to a poor team and things certainly haven't got any better. He's one of their big names and he's simply not performing - West's won't improve until he (& a couple of others do too).

Looking at the team Wane named, I've never been more glad that he's not our coach anymore. Won't sit well with some of his fan boys, but for me he's massively overrated.

Thought Moore had a poor game. Tonga first try was obstruction on Smith, even though the commentary team keep rambling on about King coming in. Tongan player running in and pushing Welsby on the head has been a yellow or red all season.
Thought Smith, McMeeken, Radley, Johnson and Knowles went well. Lewis was decent in attack but needs to improve his defence and stop ripping the ball out.

I don’t think there were any bad performances but not too many good ones.

We looked like a team that hadn’t played together before which reflects on the lack preparation time.

It was a good second half, once we stopped loving them position we were in control of the game but need to offer more in attack. I’d say our best performers were the subs, Knowles lifted the intensity in defence and McMeekin did well.

Both teams will be better next week

Moore was awful as usual. For both sides. He gave a forward pass against Havili that was never forward as Tonga were getting on top. Straight after he missed Whitehead knocking on from a kick and give a drop out which we scored off the set. Just for balance. He wasnt biased to either side hes just a poor ref

Harry Smith was definitely MOM. The most important cog in the machine, much as he is with Wigan. Was always going to Lewis for his eye catching contributions but he needs to cut down on the defensive lapses at this level, in particular the needless ball stripping penalties. Great debut from him though and he's already thinking about how he can improve as shown from his aftermatch interview. Smith/Lewis could be a very effective combination going forward.

I agree with the forwards comments earlier. I said prior to the game that it's my main issue with Waney. Too eager to accommodate forwards in his own image i.e. small grafters with aggression. Burgess and McMeeken went well along with Hill, but at least 2 of those are nearing the end of their careers. Lees has always been too small at 15 stone 10 for international level and was largely ineffective. Same for Bateman, on this showing at least. Whitehead too old going forward. We need to find the next generation of big forwards if we're not to be left behind.

I enjoyed the game and looking forward to to the rest of the series.

I kept wondering if Lees was concussed because of the amount of time he spent not just lying on players but just lying around the ruck on the floor before finally making his way back in to the defensive line. It’s a mystery to me how Mulhern didn’t get selected ahead of a couple of the props. He’s been the best British prop in Superleague by a fair way.

We have bigger guys coming through who weren't available for these tests, of course, but we should really be blooding Dupree and Mulhern in my opinion. I doubt Waney will see beyond the tried and tested though. He's a 'stick rather than twist' coach when it comes to forwards.

There is plenty to be said for loyalty but at the start of a cycle now which builds towards a World Cup, I’m not sure there is a great deal of use in playing Hill or Whitehead for starters. Whitehead is retiring from the game altogether in 12 months, so personally Farrell would’ve been selected and then Whitehead possibly given a game if the series was in the bag come game 3. We do need to win games though, so I can understand why he’s gone the way he has but the balance feels a little off to me and I’d have started the series with guys who will be around in 2 or 3 years time.