PNG boys are tough, says Wales’ Knowles

MORGAN Knowles admits the Wales squad feel like they’ve let their country down.
But the St Helens star insists the Dragons would make amends for their embarrassing start to the World Cup. Coach John Kear made two changes to his side to face Fiji on Sunday, in the wake of their 50-6 humiliation by Papua New Guinea.
Knowles, who will be 21 the day of the Fiji game, was one of the few players to come out of the thrashing with any credit.
But the youngster — tipped to be one of the superstars of the game — said the whole team was still shell-shocked by their performance.
The loose forward said: “It is do or die now but we will rip into it in training this week.
“We want to do our country proud. You play for your country and you try and make your country and your family proud and I think we struggled to do that.
“We feel disappointment and embarrassment to be honest. You can always get beat on the scoresheet but we got beat on effort and desire and wanting to front up. It is not acceptable.”
Three players were taken off injured in the bruising battle against PNG and Knowles admits it was tougher than he’s ever faced before.
“It was brutal, those PNG boys are tough. I don’t think I’ve ever played such a physical game,” Knowles said.
“I felt like I had been hit by a bus the morning after. There is a stat that rugby league is like being in a 20mph car crash and it was like that over and over again.
“But that’s just the way they play — it’s all 100 mph carries and tackles. They definitely do hurt you.
“From one to 13 you cannot distinguish props to the wingers, they are all the same size and build. They’re all tough and athletic right through the team.
“It wasn’t so much of a shock because we knew it was coming but it was definitely hostile.
“We had one fan there who had made the journey so it was tough. They love their rugby there.”
Wales need to win to keep alive any hope going into their final group game against Ireland. – Daily Mail.