Man of the match for Salford City Reds’ Daniel Holdsworth as Exiles crush England in International Origin game

HOLDSWORTH: Reds star key to win

By Ben Burrows

Salford City Reds’ Daniel Holdsworth was the star of the show as the Exiles beat England and retained the International Origin trophy.

Australian Holdsworth was instrumental as the Exiles ran out easy 32-20 winners over a lacklustre England at the Galpharm Stadium in Huddersfield.

The 28-year-old Reds standoff was impressed by how quickly the team of Australians and New Zealanders gelled together despite limited preparation.

“We had sessions Monday and Tuesday and we were real sharp from the get go,” he said. “We were confident all week.”

“Everything seemed to gel real quick and we had a few good talkers out there and the big guys up front got us on a roll and that always helps.”

Holdsworth pointed to the performance of Catalan Dragons’ Steve Menzies who terrorised the left edge of England’s defence all night.

“It was exciting to play with guys like Beaver (Menzies) – he’s a living a legend,” he added. “He’s still got it!”

First half tries from captain Brett Hodgson, Scott Dureau and Joel Monaghan cancelled out replies by Ryan Atkins and Josh Charnley.

Hodgson’s second just after the break extended the Exiles’ lead before Tom Briscoe reduced the arrears but Francis Meli’s try from Holdsworth’s break ensured the win despite Leroy Cudjoe’s late consolation.

England coach Steve McNamara was disappointed with the result but emphasised the importance of the match as part of preparations for the 2013 World Cup.

“We exposed a lot of our young players all at the same time. They will improve from that.

“If you throw another couple of senior blokes alongside those young people you'd see a different performance and possibly a different result.

“I don't think they're further away at all. This will make them even closer to being selected further down the track.

“We've said all along it's about building a squad and a programme that gives us the best chance of winning the World Cup at the end of 2013.”