'We don't want to bash anyone': Samoa boss Matt Parish responds to England claims ahead of World Cup opener

England's forward pack is widely viewed as their strength and head coach Shaun Wane has stressed throughout the year that his team must match Samoa's physicality if they are to kick off the tournament with a win.

Opposite number Parish did not need to view England's 50-0 warm-up victory over Fiji to know what to expect in Newcastle this weekend.

"I haven't even watched it," he said at Monday's World Cup launch.

"It'll be tough. I've already read several articles where they've said they're going to come out and bash us.

"It's going to be tough and very physical in the middle. They're a proud nation and are playing at home.

"They've got a coach who's won many championships over here and their captain (Sam Tomkins) is one of the world's best players."

When asked whether he felt he had the players to combat England's physical approach, Parish responded: "We want to play footy. We don't want to bash anyone."

Samoa – genuine contenders heading into the tournament after assembling a star-studded squad – are the bookmakers' favourites to win the curtain-raiser.

But Parish was quick to play down his side's chances against the hosts.

"It doesn't really worry us that we're the favourites," said Parish, who confirmed his eight NRL Grand Finalists will feature on Saturday.

"We're underdone for the first game. England played a trial match while our guys were on a plane.

"We had our first session this morning with the whole squad. We'll have two more sessions this week and then we've got to play an opening World Cup game.

"But I've got no doubt we'll give our best performance and play well. We've got a really good group of guys and a lot of them made a lot of sacrifices to play for this team.

"We're all excited to be here and playing England in the first game. They're a great team."

Samoa face Greece and France in their other Group A fixtures to line up a potential quarter-final against Tonga or Papua New Guinea.

Parish is hoping Samoa can peak at the right time with one eye on next month's Old Trafford final.

"They're all important but the one on November 19th is probably a bit more important than this one," he said.

"I'm confident we'll get better as the competition goes on. If you look at the teams that are competing, it's by far the strongest and most even World Cup ever. It's exciting to be a part of.

"We've got some confidence but we've got plenty of work to do too."

Parish is leaning on assistant coach Lee Radford in the build-up, as well as another established Super League boss.

"He's been great and Rich Agar is still in contact with us so we've got some English influence that's helping us," said Parish.

"But at the end of the day, the players have to go out there and play well. If we do that, we can compete."