After being kept scoreless for the entire first half and suffering a 30-12 defeat to Tonga,  many England fans were expecting a change to Brian McDermott’s line-up. However, that didn’t prove to be the case.

McDermott named an unchanged 19-man squad from the side that lost in the opening week of the Rugby League World Cup, before then confirming to English media on Thursday morning that Zach Eckersley had dropped down to the bench in place of Matty Ashton.

The boss explained how it was not a switch based on Eckersley’s performance last week. Instead, he wants to try out the Warrington flyer who is more favoured to the left edge.

McDermott was asked about every position in the spine individually, and what made him keep to the same players as in week one. Ultimately, with no warm-up games and only a week’s preparation, consistency in combinations is key, but here is what the England head coach had to say about those key roles on the field.

Why Brian McDermott kept the same spine as England hope for World Cup semi-final miracle

Halves:

Starting with perhaps the most controversial selection of the lot, McDermott opted to keep George Williams and Harry Smith in the six and seven role despite plenty of fans calling for change.

The gaffer has backed his two starters to repay his faith with points this week, something that is desperately needed if they are to advance from the groups.

“I thought George was good [against Tonga],” McDermott told the press. “I know George was involved in a couple of errors there when we started playing a bit too hot, but I think George has been unfairly assessed.

“I think George was really good. I thought Harry Smith was really good. I thought we were coordinated in yardage attack and good ball attack.”

The England boss was again quick to praise Tonga’s incredible defence, saying it was their best effort they have ever produced as a national side.

Hull KR star and former Man of Steel Mikey Lewis remains absent again, but McDermott has been pleased with how the polarising figure has handled being left out of the team.

“Mikey Lewis is a tremendous player, and you’ve got to wonder whether he would give us something that we haven’t got,” said the boss. “It was a frustrating end [to the season] for him, but he won a World Cup challenge at the start of the year and was involved in a [Challenge Cup] final there.

“He’s been great around the camp. He knows his role. He showed a lot of humility in camp, as have a few of the players. He’s been really good to work with.”

Brad O’Neill will again start the game at nine, with Jez Litten expected to provide impact off the bench.

The current Man of Steel was labelled “enormous defensively” by McDermott, who said he is fortunate to have two excellent hookers in his ranks.

Litten was England’s best player in the Ashes series last year, but has had little chance to prove his talent in the World Cup so far.

Full-back:

McDermott has also stuck with AJ Brimson at full-back, with the England boss knowing the heritage player well due to their time together at Gold Coast Titans.

Despite playing centre across the season, Brimson is still the preferred choice at number one, with Jack Welsby only making the bench.

Asked whether the St Helens ace could potentially take over at the starting number one, McDermott replied: “I appreciate the question and understand why you’d ask it.

“Jack’s played some full-back with Saints this year. He’s played some centre, he’s played some six. AJ’s got a good history of playing full-back.

“We didn’t get the ball down over the line on four occasions… I wouldn’t say that we couldn’t unlock Tonga’s ‘D’. I thought we unlocked it four times, but then they came up with try-savers. Scrappy, chaotic try-savers, which is what try-line ‘D’ is about.

“They unlocked us once in the game. There was one line break from a scrum when we were in yardage, and they unlocked us. They broke us down once in the game, so they didn’t lock our defence either.

“It was a really good contest, I thought, other than kicks for tries, last-play tries, which we need to tidy up.”

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