Goulding handed England Test debut
England winger Darrell Goulding will make his Test debut in Saturday's rugby league Four Nations opener against New Zealand in Wellington.
England coach Steve McNamara made three changes to the starting line-up to face the World Cup winners, Goulding getting his start after Ryan Hall failed to overcome a hamstring injury sustained in last week's 18-18 draw with New Zealand Maori.
St Helens prop James Graham comes in as captain after Adrian Morley tore his bicep in the same match, while forward Stuart Fielden returns to Test duty after a four-year absence.
McNamara said Goulding, who won the Super League championship with Wigan Warriors this year, was ready to step up to international level.
"I think he's going to go well," McNamara said.
"Darrell is a very talented young player who has been playing in a winning team, which in itself breeds confidence. He's tremendously tough."
McNamara said he was looking for an improved second-half performance from his team, which squandered an 18-0 lead against NZ Maori in Auckland.
"We did a lot of good things in the first half and the second half showed us where we need to improve," he said.
"It gave us a great platform on which to practise this week."
Team: Gareth Widdop, Darrell Goulding, Michael Shenton, Ryan Atkins, Tom Briscoe, Kevin Brown, Sam Tomkins, James Graham (capt), James Roby, Stuart Fielden, Gareth Ellis, Sam Burgess, Sean O'Loughlin. Interchange: Luke Robinson, Darrell Griffin, Joel Tomkins, Ben Westwood.
Post a comment about this article
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.