Hull KR chief slams ’embarrassing’ France v England Test after poor turnout
WILLIE Peters believes the ‘embarrassment’ of the spectacle around England’s win in France can put club coaches off allowing their players to play.
Fewer than 5,000 fans watched the 40-8 win in Toulouse on Saturday in a match that was actually a curtain raiser to a Championship game!
It was also tucked away on the Super League Plus streaming service after no TV company took up the broadcast rights.
SunSport understands rugby league chiefs are to examine how the supposed pinnacle of the sport ended up looking like an afterthought.
That includes bosses at the Rugby Football League, even though it was a French federation event, so no repeat occurs at the end-of-season series with Samoa.
What should have been a celebration of 90 years of the game on the other side of the Channel resembled a party no-one had been invited to.!
Making sure the two matches – on October 27 in Wigan and November 2 in Leeds – against Samoa provide Test rugby league with a proper backdrop of decent attendances will also be a priority.
And Hull KR boss Peters, who had Elliot Minchella and Mikey Lewis in England’s team, believes seeing the dismal way the supposed pinnacle of rugby league ended up may sway minds.
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He said: “I’ve heard calls around it being embarrassing and lower end and to be honest, I totally agree.
“As a coach, I want my players playing international rugby, I’d never want to hold a player back. It should be the highest honour.
“But watching that game – and I’m not talking about what England or France did – it was an embarrassment to the level it should be at.
“Some coaches will now be looking at it going, ‘Why would I let my players go there?’
“It should’ve been shown on TV. Why wouldn’t we want to show an international game to a new audience or the one that loves the game already?
“I was looking around asking people, ‘How do you find it? Where’s the link? How do you watch it?’ which is crazy.
“It was an international game, it needed to be treated that way and there were some world class players. It was crazy to think we weren’t going to get that product out to a wider audience.”
SunSport has approached International Rugby League, under whose auspices the Test was played, for its thoughts on the ‘spectacle.’