WARRINGTON Wolves winger Tom Lineham hails a 'great experience' in Papua New Guinea despite the defeat for his England Knights side in Port Moresby today.
Lineham, who scored two tries, felt that a failure to take a couple of chances proved to be decisive in a match that Paul Anderson's side - featuring seven Wire players - lost 32-22.
READ: Match report, Papua New Guinea 32 England Knights 22
But the 26-year-old will come home having taken a lot out of his first two international matches and his debut tour.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure playing with this group of people," said Lineham, who was also a scorer in last week's 16-12 win in Lae.
"It’s been a really good tour, so it would have been perfect to cap it off with two wins.
"Unfortunately that wasn’t the case but it’s been a great experience and we’ve made plenty of fantastic memories.
Wire's magnificent seven English Knights internationals after Saturday's game in Port Moresby. From left, Toby King, Jack Hughes, Joe Philbin, Danny Walker, Harvey Livett, Tom Lineham and Dec Patton
“I thought in the first half we really dominated, our forwards were unbelievable, we pinned them back and scored some good tries.
"We didn’t take a couple of opportunities and that cost us dearly in the end.
“It did get pretty fierce and heated at times, as international rugby does.
"They’re big boys and tough boys, and they’re used to the heat.
"Congratulations to the PNG Kumuls – they’re a tough team and they deserved their victory today.”
Respective captains and coaches, from left, PNG's David Mead and Michael Marum with England's Jack Hughes and Paul Anderson
Knights head coach Anderson, who will take up his position of Warrington Wolves head academy coach later this month, also reflected on an unforgettable experience for his squad and highlighted why his team had lost in the second meeting.
“Congratulations to Michael Marum and his team,” said Anderson.
“The Kumuls ran a bit harder than us in that game, and had more control. We got taught a lesson.
"At 18-6 with about 10 seconds to go before half-time, conceding a try had a deciding factor on our attitude.
"Over the two games we’ve made too many errors.
“But this tour was about exposing a group of our young players to something completely different, out of their comfort zone.
"The more we can expose our players to these environments, the better our players will be.
"The last two weeks for me have been two of the best of my career, in regards to enjoyment levels.”
The Knights will head home via Brisbane, and will attend next Sunday’s third Test between England and New Zealand at Elland Road.
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