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• Kevin Sinfield says time is of the essence as he prepares to run for MND again

  Kevin Sinfield has stressed there is no time to waste as he prepares to embark on his latest “crackers” fundraising quest in aid of research into Motor Neurone Disease next week.

  The former Leeds Rhinos star, who will set off another series of seven back-to-back ultra-marathons from Headingley Stadium on December 1, remains frustrated by a perceived lack of urgency on behalf of the Government to fulfill a pledge to commit £50million to fighting the disease.

  The 43-year-old Sinfield and his team have raised over £8m from a number of endurance events which started with their first ‘7 in 7 challenge’ in 2020.

  Sinfield said: “It’s really important that the money is released as promised and used in the best possible way so that we can find a cure.

  “People with Motor Neurone Disease don’t have time to wait. We all want things done now, we all want change now, we all want our great scientists across the UK to work together to find a cure, so there is some frustration.

  “We know the statistics from diagnosis are that 50 per cent die within the first two years. People with MND don’t have time on their hands, so we’ve got to shift this quickly. As we saw with Covid, if you throw money at something you can get a cure.”

  “(Rob) thinks I’m crackers but he fully gets it. He’s with us 100% in spirit, and he’ll be there at the start and the finish. He’s such an inspirational friend and I’m delighted to be doing it again.”

  Sinfield admits he will embarking on his latest quest a little “under-cooked” due to the tight turn-around following his return from France where he was working as a defensive coach for England’s rugby union World Cup squad.

  Having insisted prior to a similar epic challenge last year that his running days would soon be a thing of the past, he revealed his ex-team-mate, good friend and inspiration, MND sufferer Rob Burrow, described him as “crackers” for resolving to put himself through it once again.

  But Sinfield, whose route this year will include trips to Birmingham, Brighton, Cardiff and Edinburgh, as well as Dublin for the first time, said he never considered hanging up his running shoes while a cure remains out of reach.

  “There are 100,000 reasons why we shouldn’t go again but there is one big reason why we should and that is to continue representing this beautiful community,” added Sinfield.

  “The messages, the emails, the face to face meetings – on average three times a day someone will stop me and tell me someone they know has got MND or has passed, and they want us to keep going.

  “The awareness is crucial and will make such a difference to finding a cure for this disease. It’s shown me why I’m here on this earth, and that’s to try and help. I don’t think there’s a greater gift.

  “(Rob) thinks I’m crackers but he fully gets it. He’s with us 100 per cent in spirit, and he’ll be there at the start and the finish. He’s such an inspirational friend and I’m delighted to be doing it again.”

  Following his first quest of seven marathons in seven days in 2020, Sinfield ran 101 miles in under 24 hours from Welford Road in Leicester to Headingley in 2021. Last year’s challenge ended on the pitch at half-time during the men’s World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand at Old Trafford.

  The Government has been approached for comment about Sinfield’s concerns.

• England coach Shaun Wane wanted Tonga whitewash ‘so badly’

  England boss Shaun Wane admitted he wanted to clinch a series whitewash over Tonga “so badly” following their 26-4 victory at the AMT Headingley.

  The hosts were keen to secure a clean sweep from the start of the tie and crossed the whitewash twice in the first 26 minutes thanks to Ben Currie and Matty Ashton.

  Both teams finished the half with a temporary man less after Matty Lees and Keon Koloamatangi were sent to the sin bin for a scuffle which caused a mass brawl.

  England took no prisoners in the second half and cruised into an unassailable lead as Elliott Whitehead marked his final cap with a try before Harry Newman crossed for his first international score, but England’s defence was finally breached when Eliesa Katoa grabbed a consolation for the visitors.

  Wane was proud of his players throughout the series and thinks they deserve full credit for a 3-0 success.

  He said: “Unbelievable approach what we’ve done and how we’ve done it.

  “I’ve nothing but praise for the players, the main mention is to them. I so badly wanted to win this game, no matter what. Two-nil didn’t matter to me, so to win in this fashion is great. I was desperate.

  “You look at how the players have behaved and I think they’ve been outstanding and they’ll go from strength to strength.

  “We stuck to our task well and they can play, athletic, big, they tested us, but the desire to defend and the detail was absolutely outstanding.

  “We’ve got a really good team spirit, it’s very much like a club team. We spend time with each other and there is no club cliques and that’s been the most satisfying thing for me. We look like a club team and that’s why we’ve got the success today.”

  Wane still has nightmares about England’s World Cup semi-final defeat last year but insists his side will now get stronger and did not think they would limit Tonga to just five tries in three games.

  He added: “It will always haunt me, it doesn’t make it better, but how we played that game will always be there.

  “I never thought we could manage that (five tries in three games). You look at their talent, that was a tough ask and you look at the physical side, big athletes, so to do that, the credit the players deserve is untrue.

  “I’d love to do another three weeks. I’m back to walking my dogs next week and I’d love to do another three weeks. We’ve had a great time.

  “When you score tries like that, it beggars belief when you hear stupid comments about us not being entertaining.”

  Tonga boss Kristian Woolf handed full credit to England following the defeat but was proud of his team.

  He said: “England were exceptionally good. Sometimes you have to sit back and applaud the tries they came up with, good tries and some good plays, they did a good job of scrambling.

  “We didn’t deserve the scoreline if you look at the effort, I was proud.

  “We showed up with a great attitude and I thought we showed that throughout the game and when the score looked like it could have blown out we hung in, we kept defending and trying to find points.

  “We were disappointed to go down 3-0, there’s no doubt about that, and we’re certainly disappointed in the scoreline, but I’m not disappointed with the way our group have come over here. They have put their footy first and I’m very proud of them as a group of players.”

• It doesn’t add up – North Wales Crusaders chief on IMG’s new grading system

  The prospect of Super League rugby returning to Wales has been made more distant under IMG’s new grading system, according to the chief executive of the only remaining senior club in the country.

  North Wales Crusaders ranked rock-bottom of the 35-strong list of senior clubs which will be used to determine the make-up of the top-flight from the 2025 season onwards, scoring just 5.07 points from a possible 25.

  In common with a number of others, Andy Moulsdale believes the ranking is not a “fair reflection” of the progress made by his club, who only missed out on promotion to the Championship last season when they lost the League One play-off final to Doncaster.

  It also paints a bleak picture for prospective expansion, with Wales’ only other senior club, West Wales Raiders, withdrawing from the league after the 2022 season, and no Welsh club having featured in the top two divisions of the domestic game for almost a decade.

  Moulsdale told the PA news agency: “We all know what we’ve got to work towards and I’m the first to admit there are certainly some pillars we need to improve on, but some of it doesn’t add up.

  “For what we’ve given back to the sport, I don’t think it’s a fair reflection. We reached the final last season and finished third in the two years previously. We’ve also set up a foundation that runs a women’s and three wheelchair teams.

  “These gradings make it increasingly harder for League One teams to reach Super League. We’re the only professional club in Wales and our short-term goal is to keep a Welsh team going, and start to make progress rather than just existing.”

  Super League arrived in Wales in 2009 when Celtic Crusaders, effectively the existing club’s previous incarnation, were granted a top-flight licence and lasted three seasons – the latter two as simply Crusaders – before falling into financial problems and failing to re-apply for a licence in 2012.

  North Wales have since made quiet progress at the third-tier level, but the stark reality of elevating teams from expansion areas has been made plain by the rankings, which were ostensibly set up, at least in part, to encourage just that.

  London Broncos languish in 24th place and face the prospect of a single top-flight campaign irrespective of their on-pitch performances next season, while Midlands Hurricanes and Cornwall occupy the two places immediately above North Wales.

  “There’s no doubt it makes things more difficult for us,” added Moulsdale. “The scoring is inevitably weighted towards Super League clubs, because finances and fandom are obviously going to be bigger if you’re in the top division.

  “We’ve lost the likes of West Wales and London Skolars in recent seasons, and unless you have someone who can come straight in and invest a lot of money, the prospects (for expansion teams) are extremely tough.”

  Moulsdale is one of a number of chiefs who believe their clubs were incorrectly graded, and that their true score could have helped them at least avoid the negative connotations of being in bottom place.

  But he conceded: “The IMG gradings make you take a step back and realise it’s not all about what happens on the pitch any more. Whether you agree with it or not, that’s the way it is, and we just have to try to improve in any way we can.”