19 man squad:

John Bateman
Joe Burgess
Thomas Burgess
Mike Cooper
Leroy Cudjoe
Liam Farrell
Brett Ferres
James Graham
Ryan Hall
Zak Hardaker
Chris Hill
Josh Hodgson
Sean O’Loughlin, captain
James Roby
Kallum Watkins
Ben Westwood
Elliott Whitehead
Gareth Widdop
George Williams

I don't think we will get one but I would love a really close intense game. I hope France really put in a good performance an give England a game. I hope it is a good hard but entertaining game as I can't stand watching international training sessions.
I am looking forward to watching lolohea for N Z. saw him play a few times for the warriors. Some of his tries were real quality. He made JT look really foolish for one against the cowboys. Star in the making.

The RFL need shooting over this game. When is it even on?

The game has sold 4,000 tickets so far, predictions of 6,500 gate. At Leigh, the home of a second tier side.

The RFL have just accepted Toulouse into the Championship. In France you'd get a far bigger gate and probably a sellout in a 15,000 capacity venue. Why not promote Toulouse a little and host it there and give England a proper game as well. What have the French players got to motivate them for in a non-televised game in front 6,000 people in Leigh a month after the season has ended? It just makes no sense.

This series will set international league back years. You've got Union which could sell out Wembley for Namibia v Georgia in a friendly and League, with a far better product, which can't sell out Leigh's tinpot ground because the RFL has done nothing to promote it.

Benjamin Jullien is in the French Squad. Does anyone know if it's on TV or Radio? ... can't see anything.

It's not on TV but Leeds v New Zealand is on Premier Sports tonight.

Are you going? Tickets are £10 and £5 for concessions. The North West RL fans should be ashamed if the crowd is below 10,000.

To all fans, don't blame the RFL if you're sat on your backsides at home at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Nothing personal but this attitude gets my goat. The idea that the spectators owe some sort of debt of attendance to the RFL is typical and probably why our sport is in decline.

It's a meaningless fixture with a track record of producing a non-competitive game of rugby. The attendance will be low to correspond with the interest level.

The international game was much stronger in the late 80's and early 90's. I remember watching GB vs Aus at Wembley in 1990 in front of 54,000+ fans. The Ashes series against Great Britain saw a record aggregate crowd of 133,684 in total. I can assure you it wasn't £10 a ticket either.

You mention blame, the blame lies at the door of the RFL with the disbanding of GB and Lions and proper test matches.

If England Rugby Union were playing a friendly at Leigh against say Romania it would sell out. Go figure.

As for the 80's and 90's I agree I was there for those games, but you had Maurice Lindsay in charge then, someone who had vision and passion for growing the international game.

Anyway I'll be there on Saturday, and in London and Wigan (v New Zealand) while the majority will be sat on their @rses moaning about their clubs players not being picked and/ or the poor performance of the team.

Quote ="Saddened!"The RFL need shooting over this game. When is it even on? The game has sold 4,000 tickets so far, predictions of 6,500 gate. At Leigh, the home of a second tier side. The RFL have just accepted Toulouse into the Championship. In France you'd get a far bigger gate and probably a sellout in a 15,000 capacity venue. Why not promote Toulouse a little and host it there and give England a proper game as well. What have the French players got to motivate them for in a non-televised game in front 6,000 people in Leigh a month after the season has ended? It just makes no sense. This series will set international league back years. You've got Union which could sell out Wembley for Namibia v Georgia in a friendly and League, with a far better product, which can't sell out Leigh's tinpot ground because the RFL has done nothing to promote it.'" www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h ... 8ICM&itg=1

Quote ="Saddened!"The RFL need shooting over this game. When is it even on? The game has sold 4,000 tickets so far, predictions of 6,500 gate. At Leigh, the home of a second tier side. The RFL have just accepted Toulouse into the Championship. In France you'd get a far bigger gate and probably a sellout in a 15,000 capacity venue. Why not promote Toulouse a little and host it there and give England a proper game as well. What have the French players got to motivate them for in a non-televised game in front 6,000 people in Leigh a month after the season has ended? It just makes no sense. This series will set international league back years. You've got Union which could sell out Wembley for Namibia v Georgia in a friendly and League, with a far better product, which can't sell out Leigh's tinpot ground because the RFL has done nothing to promote it.'" www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h ... 8ICM&itg=1

You're aiming that at all Fans of Wigan Wire Saints leigh and Widnes, and thats wrong ...I can remember during a pretty bad patch for English soccer, Wembley crowds were a bit ropey and not selling out but you dont blame Arsenal or Chelsea fans as its most likely those fans dont watch England much to be honest

football is lucky that it has huge numbers of England fans that dont follow the top clubs so your average United or liverpool fan can save his money for his season ticket and still watch England on the Telly knowing full well that thousands of fans from milton keynes, Bury st Edmonds and Kettering are well up for going to an England game...

popularity breeds popularity..... the game isn't even on the radio as far as I can see ...talk about small time....

Ive said it before we had a superb formula for internationals but the day we switched to Summer we killed that stone dead... a Record Headingly attendance watching that last night is proof.

I couldn't care less about this game or the Test series. Soz Rogues.

neither could France 84-4 to England !!!

8,400 crowd

That was a weak french team with 6 part timers in there too...

We layed well today some really good stuff with farrell Bateman n hall linking up props. Ran hard but no real resistance so nota lot can be taken from the game in all fairness.

We needed a competitive game I think a rest of super league team of players who may have just missed out on.a spot to push the team

Agree as I do with the idea that the RFL have been incredibly disrespectful of France in the build up to today's game, it is worth pointing out that today's crowd was larger than any GB vs France game in your 80s/90s golden era.

Meanwhile the tickets sold for the Kiwi test series are already greater than the aggregate attendance for either of the 1989 or 1993 GB vs New Zealand test series as well as the most recent series in 2007. There is every chance, particularly if the third test isn't a dead rubber, that the combined attendances will exceed the second-best ever 1951 series although the 100k record of 1947 is probably beyond reach.

As a relative newcomer to RL it seems infuriating to me that there is such a dearth of competitive fixtures for the England team, the main issue being that the Australians aren't that interested. Yet at the other end of the winter break we have the World Club Challenge, which this year saw three NRL clubs flying halfway round the world to play one game each. Any reason the World Club Challenge could not be held late October each year, with an additional game where England play either the NRL champions (or a composite team of the NRL teams visiting for it)?

I was right. You could see that score coming a mile off. Daft game.

Now if France RU would just give RL its assets back they may well just be competitive.

Quote ="The Ghost of '99"Agree as I do with the idea that the RFL have been incredibly disrespectful of France in the build up to today's game, it is worth pointing out that today's crowd was larger than any GB vs France game in your 80s/90s golden era. Meanwhile the tickets sold for the Kiwi test series are already greater than the aggregate attendance for either of the 1989 or 1993 GB vs New Zealand test series as well as the most recent series in 2007. There is every chance, particularly if the third test isn't a dead rubber, that the combined attendances will exceed the second-best ever 1951 series although the 100k record of 1947 is probably beyond reach.'" I must admit there was never much interest in the GB vs France games in the 80's and later. Scores like yesterday will do nothing to improve that. Decent article here in the ineptitude of the RL administration. www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2 ... pectacular "Rugby league would struggle to organise a barbecue in a butcher’s shop and it is the international game that has paid the biggest price for the code’s administrative ineptitude and inertia" So are you arguing that the international game was not stronger in the 80s/90s?

Quote ="The Ghost of '99"Agree as I do with the idea that the RFL have been incredibly disrespectful of France in the build up to today's game, it is worth pointing out that today's crowd was larger than any GB vs France game in your 80s/90s golden era. Meanwhile the tickets sold for the Kiwi test series are already greater than the aggregate attendance for either of the 1989 or 1993 GB vs New Zealand test series as well as the most recent series in 2007. There is every chance, particularly if the third test isn't a dead rubber, that the combined attendances will exceed the second-best ever 1951 series although the 100k record of 1947 is probably beyond reach.'" I must admit there was never much interest in the GB vs France games in the 80's and later. Scores like yesterday will do nothing to improve that. Decent article here in the ineptitude of the RL administration. www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2 ... pectacular "Rugby league would struggle to organise a barbecue in a butcher’s shop and it is the international game that has paid the biggest price for the code’s administrative ineptitude and inertia" So are you arguing that the international game was not stronger in the 80s/90s?

If Australia or NZ beat anyone by 80 pts it would be reported as a show of their ruthlessness and overwhelming superiority.

Meanwhile when England do so its put down to the opposition being crap.

I went to the game complete no contest but there were some good signs for England, I think we look in decent shape for the test series. I have tickets for the Olympic stadium and will probably go to the Wigan one also.
One slight gripe, I and 5 others were seated in the West stand of the LSV on arrival we found people sitting in our seats obviously we told them this ,but it turned out they had the same problem (people were sat in their seats).
We spoke the the stewarding supervisor who just laughed and said "Everyone is doing it just find a seat" pretty poor really.. If you can't handle the crowd it's probably best to print unreserved on the ticket.

I think there is far too much dewey-eyed reminiscing here. You cited 54,000 vs the Kangaroos at Wembley in 1990 as evidence of how strong the international game was back then. Will you allow 50,000 at the Olympic Stadium in two weeks, historically completely unprecedented for a GB/Eng-NZ test match, similar praise?

The RFL are not perfect, but they have to deal with the world as it is, not the world as we would dream it to be. Rugby League should be assessed in its own context first, not against mythical pasts or against sports which have completely different defining characteristics to ours.

If there were 50,000 spectators with paid for (not free) tickets at the Olympic stadium that would be a very good achievement. If there was 133,684 across all 3 test series then that would be amazing.

Nothing mythical about the 1990 tour, they are hard facts.

Nevermind internationals, the RFL have a dismal track record of achieving results in both promoting our game up the sporting news agenda, raising awareness and widening the geographical area in which is is played at the top flight nationally also. The game in the heart land is struggling with falling attendances (2014 on 2013*) awaiting data for 2015. I suspect the "every minute matters" white elephant didn't help much in that regard.

So long as Sky dictate the terms to suit their broadcasting agenda, the RFL will always have an uphill battle in doing what is right for the sport.


*www.totalrl.com/opinion-super-league-attendance-drop-cause-concern/

Not many countries play RL to any sort of level. That's why the international game is rubbish. That's not the RFL's fault, it's just the way it is.

The international game picking up a bit won't make any difference to Warrington's chances of winning the Grand Final anytime soon. That's why I couldn't care less if it does or not.

Simple really. If you like the games and want to go to them (and I have been to a few internationals over the years) then great. If not then don't. Either way, it's no one else's problem really.

That may be true? but if the international game did pick up, that would have a knock on effect for the club game. That in turn would bring more money and fans into the sport, and if Warrington were lucky enough to be in a Challenge cup final or Grand final they would more likely be real sell outs, with not a single seat left to be had ... and people like you wouldn't be so ing blasé about the sport.

If more games sold out then ticket prices would go up, they would become harder to obtain, and Warrington wouldn't be affected more or less than any other club so our chances of success wouldn't suddenly increase.

International sport is fine for casual viewing but doesn't hold a candle to following your real team week in week out.