Third rate and rejected antipodeans defeated England

Is anyone surprised England lost to the Exiles on Friday?

No, me neither. 

England were outplayed in a game they needed to win to restore faith in the international set up. British supporters of the game need a successful international team, it is the catalyst for expansion to the rest of the country.

International sport unites the country and fans of the sport. The FIFA World Cup last year was a good example of the country uniting to support Fabio's under-par squad. Despite the failure of the national soccer team, it got people from all classes and walks of life together to support the lads.

The success of the England rugby union national side got the country united for 80 minutes in 2003. Any game against the Australians in any sport does that, see the cricket Ashes as another example. In 2005 the country were fully behind Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison. And the resulting success gifted the sport an increase in participation at grass roots level. Rugby League needs this success, it will be a major boost to the RFL's community game especially in the Midlands and southern regions where the sport tries its best to grow.

Back to Friday's game, and Steve McNamara needs to seriously look at his options ahead of the Four Nations. The squad he chose was no virtually different to that of the past two years. He needs to choose players on form, like Kirk Yeaman who has been on fire for Hull FC. In my opinion he should also consider selecting some of the younger players who have made their debuts, or have developed this season. Jonny Lomax, Jamie Foster, Andrew Dixon and Tom Makinson to name just a handful of worthy players. Admittedly the players named are all from St Helens, but these are players who have been outplaying some of the names already in the England squad.