As the country embroils itself in England’s quest to deliver a long-overdue slice of sporting success at Euro 2020, there is another such journey beginning on Friday evening, albeit in a slightly more subdued backdrop in Warrington. Just 4,000 fans will be permitted to attend England’s mid-season Test match against the Combined Nations All Stars but the significance of the occasion could not be more important for fans starved of meaningful games at international level, let alone any semblance of success. The legacy the Rugby Football League hoped to create off the back of England’s run to the last World Cup final is now a distant memory. This is the first game for the national side since November 2018,and only the sixth since that defeat to Australia in the final four years ago. That is a harrowing indictment of where British rugby league prioritises the international game, but with a home World Cup in October, Shaun Wane’s first match in charge is a vital step in reviving interest in the national side. “I couldn’t have imagined going into the World Cup without this game,” Wane said this week. In typical rugby league fashion though, the buildup has been overshadowed by drama. With a congested domestic calendar meaning there is also a full round of Super League fixtures this weekend, coupled with Covid outbreaks at several clubs, player shortages have cast a shadow over the game, with the side Wane fields a long way from what many perceive to be his strongest. But that has afforded opportunities to players who have impressed in the opening two months of the season, including Wakefield’s Joe Westerman, who will make his first Test appearance in seven years. “Shaun has always said that if you’re playing well, you’ll get picked,” he said. “But at 31, you think this chance to do it all over again has probably gone. I’d not enjoyed my rugby that much but I’ve got a spring in my step again. I know how big a moment it is to show I can be in the World Cup mix.” Westerman is one of several who will be keen to impress Wane. Catalans’ Tom Davies has been one of the standout wingers in the competition and he will almost certainly make his Test debut. The 24-year-old has driven more than 1,000 miles to get to England this week, in order to sidestep quarantine regulations. “I’d have probably walked here to get this chance,” he said. “If I’d flown in, I’d have had to quarantine when going back to Catalans but by driving here, I’ve been in my own bubble, so to speak. It’s been a long few days, but it’s definitely worth it. You grow up dreaming of moments like this.” There will also be players in the opposition ranks keen to showcase their ability to Wane. England’s opposition is a select side made up of the best overseas talent in Super League, a concept dating back as far as 1904 when the Other Nationalities were regular opposition for the national side. But this week, they include players eligible for England, including Wigan’s Australian-born half-back Jackson Hastings. “My goal has never changed, I want to play for England,” said Hastings, who qualifies via his English grandmother. “Shaun knows where I stand, and I’ve never shied away from what I want to do.” For Hastings and Hull’s Jake Connor – who will represent his family’s Trinidadian heritage by lining up for the All Stars – there is a golden opportunity to impress Wane. With Sam Burgess and Sean O’Loughlin no longer around, this is the start of a new era for English rugby league. The buildup has been subdued and overshadowed by events elsewhere, but this is an important time for a sport desperate to thrust itself into the mainstream later this year with World Cup success.