Calderwood (centre) hopes moving to Hull FC will boost his England chances

Hull's new signing Mark Calderwood admits he feels England let the country down with their disastrous performance at last year's Rugby League World Cup.

The 27-year-old winger said he expected to reach the final in Australia but the team never performed.

"I think everyone was disappointed, we let our country down," he said.

"We went there knowing we could get to the final and thinking we would. People, myself included, didn't play as well as they could."

England lost three of their four games at the World Cup, being knocked out in the semi-finals by New Zealand.

Calderwood revealed that there were certain cliques that were obvious in the England squad but he denied that was a factor in the side's poor showing.

"The spirit was good, we bonded quite a bit. Obviously you are going to get your little cliques from each club but that's only to be expected," he said.

I'm only 27 and still want to play for my country Mark Calderwood

"That's happened when I've been with England A and Yorkshire. It wasn't too bad, everyone was disappointed we weren't winning but we stuck together and tried to win.

"When you come together with England you are just one and we did that." he added.

Calderwood starts the new Super League season with Hull FC after leaving Wigan last September and the winger said he hopes the change of scenery can strengthen his England chances.

"I'm only 27 and still want to play for my country, but I'm going to have to play well for Hull to do that again this year."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version