Saints centre Stephenson salutes ‘exceptional’ Burrell

Burrell, who was left out of England’s final 31-man squad for the World Cup after coming agonisingly close to making the final cut, shone at Allianz Park.

He intercepted a Baden Kerr pass to register his first try before running a nice line, picking up the ball and brushing off two tackles to add a second to his tally.

Stephenson also impressed, with one piece of play in the build-up to Howard Packman’s score particularly eye-catching.

And the young centre was quick to compliment his senior sidekick after the comprehensive 36-17 success.

“Obviously Luther played exceptionally on Saturday,” Stephenson said.

“He’s come back, unlucky not to be in the England squad, and he was exceptional, so hats off to him.

“Overall, I think we looked good.

“We’ve got a few new players but everyone fitted into our system well.

“There were a few mistakes, which there always were going to be in a pre-season game, but mostly we looked in good shape and scored some good tries.

“It’s a big positive.”