England win 'great' for Rugby World Cup, says Mal Meninga
Thursday 26 October 2017 10:55, UK
Australia coach Mal Meninga says defeat for his side in Friday's opening World Cup match against England would be 'great' for the tournament.
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The Kangaroos have won 10 of the previous 14 World Cups and are overwhelming favourites to retain the trophy they won at Old Trafford when the 2017 tournament reaches its climax in Brisbane on December 2.
The opening heavyweight fixture has been given added spice with Meninga going up against his arch rival Wayne Bennett. And the Kangaroos' boss says England's head coach would draw huge satisfaction from drawing first blood and an England win could blow open the tournament.
"It would be enormous for him," said Meninga, who claimed during the 2016 Four Nations Series that Bennett is still after his job. "It would be a great start for the tournament in general.
"England will probably think we are at our most vulnerable tomorrow night and we're prepared for that.
"We're favourites for the tournament and with that comes some added pressure. If we do get beaten, other teams will probably feel we're vulnerable as well."
Asked why he believes England will consider his side to be vulnerable, Meninga said: "We haven't played together for a while and, always with the first game of the series, you're not quite sure of the combinations.
"You could be a bit clunky. We've got a few blokes who haven't played for a while."
Meninga has brought in North Queensland utility player Michael Morgan at stand-off to replace the injured Johnathan Thurston, but says having five Melbourne players in his side, including skipper Cameron Smith, will help with cohesion.
Their presence is set to help draw a near-capacity 30,000 crowd for what could be the last chance to see veterans Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk playing together for the final time on their home ground.
"It's another story line I guess, their last opportunity to play together at AAM Stadium," Meninga said. "It's a chance for all fans to get out there and watch three of the best players the game has ever seen."
While Australia continue to rely on the spine of Slater, Smith and Cronk, Meninga believes the game will be determined by the performance of the two packs and he concedes England will benefit from the experience of having six forwards based in the NRL.
"Like most games, it will be won in the middle and they're a big side with a lot of experience in the middle," he said.
"I imagine they will try and force the issue, try and get on top of us. All those players in the NRL won't be over-awed by who they are playing against. We want to dictate in the middle so that's where the battle lies initially and we'll see who gets on top after that.
"The players have worked really hard on making sure their attitude is right tomorrow night. We know how important the first game of the tournament is. We want to get off to a good start."
