England won 60-8 in Newcastle with Red Devils’ centre, Kallum Watkins, starting and scoring for the Three Lions.
Despite technical difficulties affecting the opening ceremony, the occasion of the Rugby League World Cup 2021 opening game was a special one after it was delayed for a year because of the pandemic.
None more so than for Kallum Watkins. Although he is competing in his third World Cup for England, there is no doubt the selection for this year’s tournament meant the most to him.
Watkins was on the brink of retiring after the 2017 World Cup, injury hampered the end of his time at Leeds Rhinos and his move to Gold Coast Titans in Australia was less than successful, leading to him speaking on his struggle with mental health problems. https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/kallum-watkins-leeds-rhinos-suicide-20734529
At that time Watkins could have never dreamed of wearing the England shirt again. But his move to his hometown club Salford has revitalised his career. Watkins had a tremendous 2022 season for the Red Devils and re-found some of the best form of his career to earn his England re-call.
After being awarded the number ‘3’ shirt, the shirt he wore in the 2017 World Cup Final, Watkins was named to start vs Samoa and displayed an extremely impressive 80-minute performance.
🏴 Here is your #EnglandRL side for this afternoon's @RLWC2021 opener against Samoa… pic.twitter.com/UBxvQmc7Ja
— England Rugby League (@England_RL) October 15, 2022
Capping it with a try which raised every fan in St James’ Park off their feet, mutual respect was shown for Watkins and his journey.
𝗪𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗦 🤯
From a devastating knee injury to scoring for England at a home World Cup 👏
Incredible perseverance from Kallum Watkins!
📺 Watch #RLWC2021 live on @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer#BBCRL pic.twitter.com/gSknAe77Xx
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 15, 2022
It was an all-round stunning performance from Watkins who topped the England metres made chart with 206.
💪 The back-line getting through the work yesterday…
🏴 #EnglandRL pic.twitter.com/Id22k4H9Nj
— England Rugby League (@England_RL) October 16, 2022
Watkins was also in England’s top five tacklers, with 20 tackles made.
👊 @MickyMc88 topped the #EnglandRL tackle chart on Saturday… pic.twitter.com/jrJo3ctXuh
— England Rugby League (@England_RL) October 17, 2022
Fellow Red Devils Andy Ackers and Marc Sneyd did not feature vs Samoa however may be set to make their tournament debuts vs France on Saturday in Bolton. Watkins will likely feature again and add to his 27 England caps. Below you can see a full map of every stadium location for Rugby League World Cup 2021:
Elsewhere in the World Cup, Red Devils’ Ryan Brierley played in Scotland’s 28-4 loss to Italy while Morgan Escare’s France play Greece tonight and Rhys William’s Wales play Cook Islands on Wednesday.
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