Castleford Tigers' Sam Wood earns praise for England debut performance against France

Centre Wood has impressed as a regular starter at Cas following his move from Hull KR in the off season.

And his consistent performances in a Tigers team that has not always been so consistent in 2024 caught the eye of England boss Shaun Wane who has selected him in his 20-man squad.

Wood started at centre and played his part in a 40-8 victory for England, who recovered from conceding an early try to ran in eight tries to one in a routine victory.

Last week Wood reacted to his England call-up, saying: “I am over the moon and a bit shocked to be honest.

"Shaun rang me and I was sat in the garden with my family and it was completely out of the blue.

"I’m a bit nervous and a bit anxious about what’s going to happen, but I am just going to try and enjoy it, soak it all up and enjoy the experience.”

Former Cas boss Andy Last was in charge for the game after temporarily stepping up for his England assistant coach role with head coach Shaun Wane recovering from an ankle operation.

He said: "Shaun messaged our analyst at half-time and gave a couple of pointers with regard to some of the things that we needed to do a little bit better.

"He wasn’t happy, obviously, with our contact in defence in that first half. We were a little bit loose in certain aspects. That message was delivered to the players at half-time.

"I thought there were periods where we looked really, really strong and periods where we were a little bit off the mark and not quite at the level that we need to be at for England.

"There are lessons to learn. We’ll have a look at it on the video and we’ll certainly be a lot better for that come the end of the season against Samoa."

Last was happy with Wood and three other debutants in the England line-up, Huddersfield’s Oliver Wilson, Hull KR’s Elliot Minchella and Wigan’s Brad O’Neill (Wigan Warriors)

He added: “I thought Sam Wood in the centre was solid, he made some good defensive reads and carried the ball with some purpose and broke the line on a couple of occasions."