'A tough player, I am impressed': Richie Myler's verdict on new Leeds Rhinos teamate James McDonnell

McDonnell will join Rhinos in pre-season on a two-year contract, having spent most of 2022 with Leigh Centurions, on loan from Wigan Warriors.

He is on Ireland World Cup duty alongside Myler and has already made a positive impression in training and in the Wolfhounds’ opening win over Jamaica at Headingley.

That was McDonnell’s Ireland debut, having played for England Knights last year and the 22-year-old was among their try scorers in an impressive display off the bench.

“I have been impressed with him since we got together,” Myler said. “He is a genuine lad and he has come in for the right reasons.

“He wants to win and I think the Rhinos fans can be excited by what we saw. He’s a tough player, he plays the game tough and I was impressed by him.”

The 48-2 defeat of Jamaica was also Myler’s first appearance for Ireland, having previously played Test rugby with England.

Ireland ran in 10 tries and Myler felt it was a “good hit out”. He said: “We didn’t really know what to expect from Jamaica or what they were going to throw at us.

“They’ve got a lot of Super League experience in that team and credit to them, they really held their gloves up in that first 10-15 minutes, but I thought our processes were good.

“I think we could have put a few more tries away, but I am happy with it as a first hit out. We hadn’t played together before, but I think our communication and everything was there. We didn’t execute as fully as we wanted to, but I thought we put in a good performance.”

Ireland are top of group C on points difference from New Zealand who beat Lebanon 34-12 in their opening match.

The Kiwis, ranked number one in the world, are hot favourites to top the group, but Ireland will secure a place in the quarter-finals if they beat Lebanon at Leigh on Sunday.

“We earmarked the first two games, Jamaica and Lebanon,” Myler said. “To get out of the group we need to beat those two teams.

“They [Lebanon] have got a lot of strike, their halves are good, their outside-backs are good, they have got quality across the board. We know it’s going to be a tough game, but we are looking forward to it.

“I think we are quite evenly matched, there’s quite a lot of experience in both teams, but we were happy with our first performance and if we can build on that we’ll be pleased.”

The game against Jamaica was Myler’s first rugby since Rhinos’ Grand Final defeat by St Helens 22 days earlier. On a personal note, he said: “I blew a few cobwebs off. There was a lot of running in that game and I’m happy.

“It has been a long year, but my body feels good and I feel fresh. It was nice to be back out there and it helps we’ve got two games at Headingley, it feels like being at home. We are based in Leeds, which is perfect and I am loving it, it’s great.”