League: Tomkins ready to be tested by Johnson

Sam Tomkins. Photo / File.

England fullback Sam Tomkins is bracing himself for a barrage of Shaun Johnson spiral punts when his side tackles the Kiwis at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday night.

Tomkins, who plays with Johnson at the Warriors, spent a bit of extra time taking high balls at the end of England's training session at Tahuna Park yesterday afternoon, and said he will definitely be practising "a few" more in the lead up to the match.

Johnson's towering spiral punt has been a handy weapon for the Kiwis in the opening two Four Nation wins against Australia and Samoa, with numerous players struggling to handle the kicks.

Tomkins will not have to worry about wind when defusing Johnson's bombs under the roof, and the English fullback was looking forward to playing in the stadium again, having previously played the Broncos in a pre-season game there earlier this year.

"It's a brilliant stadium that we are going to play at. We really enjoyed playing there with the Warriors. The boys [England] got a quick look in the stadium when we went down to the gym [yesterday morning], so we are really excited about it." With four of Tomkins' Warriors team mates set to feature on Saturday night, a number of his team mates went to him for pointers.

"We did a preview today and I was getting asked a few questions off players. 'What does this guy do?', and things like that. But the Kiwis are a very good side, as we all know, and we are going to have to do a great job to go out there and beat them," he said.

After a narrow 32-26 win against Samoa in round one, England were held scoreless in the second half last week, losing to Australia 16-12.

The folk from the northern hemisphere must now beat the Kiwis by 10 or more points on Saturday night, and hope Samoa can edge Australia on Sunday to make the competition final, something Tomkins thinks his team can do.

"We are confident, we have got a very exciting group here. If we play to our potential we can go and win this game. I think there are that many variables anyone can end up in the final, but we're going to put our best foot forward and do anything we can do be there." While the English squad had not spoken about the devastating last second loss to the Kiwis in their World Cup semifinal in Wembley last year, Tomkins said the players who were involved were "hurting" from that game and owed the Kiwis some payback for it.

ODT lb