England Coach Bennett tells Castleford man to step up to the plate at international level
LUKE Gale has been told to seize the day and prove he can be an international player.
For England coach Wayne Bennett has admitted the occasion may have got to the Castleford man in the one-point loss to New Zealand.
Luke Gale has done the business for Castleford but did not reproduce his magic in England’s Four Nations defeat
The scrum-half also faces a fight for his spot as Wigan’s George Williams will play against Scotland.
Gale failed to impress on Saturday as England were agonisingly edged out 17-16 by Shaun Johnson’s drop goal.
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And Bennett revealed he felt some things passed him by as England were left having to beat Scotland and Australia to make the Four Nations final.
He said: “Luke probably lost his way a little bit as it was his first really big game.
New Zealand had the beating of England 17-16Getty Images
“He let a few things slip by that I’d encourage him to grab and take in future.
“He’s good with the ball in hand and his defence was outstanding but he didn’t get his hands on the ball enough.”
Bennett confirmed James Graham will miss the Scotland game in Coventry because of a slight knee injury.
Every member of the squad that did not face New Zealand or France in a warm-up game, bar Leeds’ Stevie Ward, will also come in.
ENGLAND coach Wayne Bennett is known for being a hard taskmasterPA:Press Association
And Bennett admitted the mental side of the game must sharpen up as the physical is already at the required level – a flaw that had been picked our months ago.
He added: “We defended 10 sets in a row, which in itself is a massive effort. They only got six points, which is just about unbelievable.
“But we’ve got to be better than that. When you defend 10 sets in a row, you can’t expect to win games.
“The Rugby Football League had identified the problem long before I spoke to them in June last year as England had lost too many games by too few points.”
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