MANCHESTER – Jahrome Hughes’ injury woes continue with the Melbourne Storm halfback ruled out of Kiwis duty for the second week in a row.
Hughes was a late scratching for the Kiwis’ opener with Lebanon after picking up a thigh strain in their captain’s run, and while it was hoped that he could recover in time to face Jamaica this weekend, he has not been named in Michael Maguire’s squad.
Jeremy Marshall-King, who was drafted in to replace Hughes, will remain in the team with Kieran Foran deputising at halfback alongside Dylan Brown.
New Zealand are set to hand caps to two new players for their second group game, with Sebastian Kris and Scott Sorensen to make their debuts in Hull. Isaac Liu is the other addition.
Tournament CEO defends ticket prices
RLWC CEO Jon Dutton has defended the price of World Cup tickets after fan complaints that they were priced out of early round games.
Attendances at this tournament are down slightly on the last tournament played in the UK, the 2013 World Cup, though Dutton insisted that broader economic factors were behind the reduced attendances and backed the tournament to exceed the numbers posted by the women’s soccer European Championships, held in June in England.
“When we started the tournament, 57 out of the 61 games had tickets available at £25 or less,” said Dutton in his week one media briefing.
“If we take a deep dive into Bolton on Saturday, we had at the start 8,000 category E (£25/£10) or D (£35/£15) tickets available for that England game.
“Doncaster, our lowest attendance so far, was our cheapest game. Last night (Wednesday, Wales v Cook islands) was priced at adults £15 and children for £5.
“We are really conscience of comparisons to 2013. We need to take into context the current economical environment, the TV terrestrial coverage that we didn’t have (in 2013) and also that we are taking more games to venues.”
The tournament CEO said TV ratings were up and tickets were being sold widely in non-rugby league areas, such as Newcastle and the South of England.
“Just under 100,000 spectators have come through the turnstiles in the first week,” said Dutton. “The stat that really stands out for me – 55% of those inside St James’ Park (for England’s opener) were from the north-east.”
“On Saturday night, after the England game, we had our highest sales since we opened the ballot two years ago.
“The top buying postcode on Saturday night was for London. We are now seeing a trend where people are plotting an England path. We are approaching a sell out at Bolton (for England v France) and we have got some really key moments moving forward.”
John Bateman (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Bateman back for England
England coach Shaun Wane has wasted no time recalling John Bateman to his squad after the former Canberra Raiders man completed his suspension.
The backrower sat out England’s opener after being sent off late in the Super League season while playing for Wigan, but has been brought back at the first opportunity and will face France at Bolton on Satuday teatime (UK time).
All-time leading tryscorer Ryan Hall is set to return to the team in place of Tommy Makinson, who is rested, and will equal James Graham on 46 games for England as record appearance holder.
Andy Ackers, Joe Batchelor, Mikolaj Oledzki, Kai Pearce-Paul and Marc Sneyd are all also in the squad and will make their international debuts if included on gameday.
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