EORL CRABTREE
HAD relatively little time on the field, which will have come as a huge disappointment to the big fella.
In the first half he was restricted to just 10 minutes off the bench and then had a similar spell after the break.
But during that time he did make his presence felt.
The highlight was undoubtedly the moment he sent Australian hooker Cameron Smith flying to the floor after one strong midfield drive and subsequent offload.
Overall, however, he will have felt a little frustrated he didn’t have more of an opportunity to make his presence felt, particularly after missing the New Zealand
LEROY CUDJOE
CAN feel mightily proud of his efforts on his England debut.
He did have a relatively quiet time, with very little coming his way on attack.
But when he did have the ball he was error-free, which was certainly not the case with a number of his England teammates.
In fact, it was good to report that all four of the Giants were rock solid in their spells.
Defensively, the former Newsome Panthers junior was also sound, making 12 solid tackles, including one early effort on Kangaroos full-back Billy Slater to settle any potential nerves.
He also marked a first senior England call by slotting over the conversion to Luke Robinson’s second-half try.
SHAUN LUNT
LIKE Cudjoe, he can be delighted with the way he handled making an England debut against the might of Australia.
He said in the build-up to the contest that he was going to treat the Kangaroos just like he would any other opponent.
And he was true to his word, ripping straight in from the start when he entered the fray after 49 minutes.
Unfortunately, he was withdrawn 20 minutes later after making 12 tackles and several good dummy-half runs.
He can also count himself unlucky not to have scored a ‘try’ when referee Tony Archer ruled he had grounded the ball just short of the line.
LUKE ROBINSON
IS PROVING to be one of the big England successes during this Four Nations tour Down Under.
He was one of the stars of the show against the Maori in the warm-up game and was then a real livewire in the tournament opener against New Zealand last Saturday.
And he showed against Australia those performances were no fluke as he produced another good attacking showing and solid defensive display.
The big difference on this occasion was that he started a game for the first time at scrum-half and marked the occasion with a stunning 43rd-minute solo try when he collected the ball from acting half-back 15m out and jinked his way to the line to score under the posts.