Really good but not perfect – Shaun Wane wants more from England after Tonga win

England head coach Shaun Wane believes his side left plenty of room for improvement after they kicked off their three-match autumn series with a hard-fought 22-18 win over Tonga in St Helens.

Two second-half tries from Tom Johnstone sealed victory for the hosts in their first significant international test since their World Cup semi-final defeat to Samoa at the Emirates Stadium last year.

But a late try from Tolutau Koula kept the visitors in with a chance until the final hooter and Wane admitted he expects more in the second meeting in Huddersfield next Saturday.

Wane singled out Hull KR stand-off Mikey Lewis, who shone on his debut in the halves, his first surging run setting up the opening try for Toby King before the 22-year-old went all the way to touch down for England’s second before the half-hour.

“Mikey can do a lot better, there’s no question in my mind about that, and he won’t mind me saying it,” added Wane.

“I know he’s a lot more talented but he did really well today against a big, athletic team. I knew he was a running threat and once I committed to him that was it. He’s conducted himself so well and he’s a credit to his club.”

Johnstone’s quickfire double began with a brilliant, floating pass from Jack Welsby which flew over the heads of three opponents, and the Saints 22-year-old also earned praise from Wane.

“Jack is like a throwback to the eighties,” added Wane. “He just plays like he used to play at school. He’s an outstanding talent, I loved coaching him in the World Cup last year and getting back with him has been so enjoyable.”

And Wane knows his side will face a sterner test against a Tongan side stacked with NRL talent who more than matched their hosts in the first period at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

He added: “They will improve and we need to improve, no question. It’s going to be game on next Saturday because they’ve got a lot of really good players and they won’t like losing so it’s going to be full-on next week.”

“It was a good Test match and we showed plenty of courage and gave ourselves a chance to win the game,” said Woolf.

“We’ll learn a lot and we’ll be a hell of a lot better next week. But lot of these guys haven’t played for six or seven weeks and that affected them.”