Gareth Widdop welcomes competition for England place
Wednesday 14 October 2015 11:30, UK
Gareth Widdop welcomes the competition for half-back places ahead of England's clash with France on Saturday week.
The St George Illawarra stand-off and Wigan scrum-half Matty Smith were the only specialist half-backs in coach Steve McNamara's 24-man squad for the 2014 Four Nations Series and they started all three matches against Samoa, Australia and New Zealand.
But McNamara now has two further options now in Castleford scrum-half Luke Gale, included in the 2015 Dream Team, and Wigan stand-off George Williams, named Super League's young player of the year.
Widdop admits he has not seen much of the pair in action, but believes the added strength in depth can only be good for the team.
"It's quite hard to follow the games over there at times," said the Sydney-based Widdop. "They're on at silly o'clock in the morning and not all the games are shown.
"There's a few debutants this year so it's going to be good. It makes you train harder and compete harder so whatever Steve decides to go with, I'm sure he'll make the right decision."
Widdop looks certain to retain the No 6 jersey, but McNamara admits he is facing a selection dilemma over his half-back partner.
McNamara said: "Matty Smith had a first good year on tour and he complemented Gareth Widdop really well.
"Luke Gale has had a very good season for Castleford - they are not one of the big four teams but he managed to hold his hands up and steer that team around - and George Williams had a sensational second half of the season and became a real threat in our competition."
