Shaun Wane’s World Cup preparations get under way tonight as his England side take on the Combined Nations all-stars. It’s Wane’s first game in charge of the national side and he’ll be desperate for the win as he gets ready for the challenge of Australia and New Zealand in the Autumn.
After injuries to Alex Walmsley and Jonny Lomax – which was confirmed by St Helens on twitter this morning – Shaun Wane was down to his last 17 fit players so has called up Jack Welsby to the squad. Lomax’s absence means it’s likely one of Stefan Ratchford or Sam Tomkins will fill in at stand-off alongside Luke Gale. That will leave a hole in the outside backs meaning Welsby will likely make his England debut at centre. There’s also a question mark over the wing spots. Wane will have to pick between last season’s two top try scorers in Tom Davies and Ash Handley. The forwards are less complicated for Wane with Mikolaj Oledzki and Mike Cooper set to start at prop. However, he will have to decide which backrowers get to start and which ones will begin the night on the bench.
As for the Combined Nations, they also have a question mark over the wing spots. The trio of Liam Kay, Ken Sio and Jermaine McGillvary will be trimmed down to two. Speaking of McGillvary, he’s one of four Combined Nations players capable of representing England at the World Cup. Jake Connor was controversially left out of Wane’s squad as was Great Britain international Jackson Hastings. Meanwhile, Leeds’ Kruise Leeming gets his first real taste of international rugby having been named in the England squad earlier this year and The Combined Nations will also be boosted by the presence of two of the league’s in-form forwards in Matt Prior and Chris Satae.
England
1 Sam Tomkins
2 Tom Davies
3 Jack Welsby
4 Reece Lyne
5 Tommy Makinson
6 Stefan Ratchford
7 Luke Gale
8 Mikolaj Oledzki
9 Paul McShane
10 Mike Cooper
11 John Bateman
12 Liam Farrell
13 Morgan Knowles
Substitutes
14 Daryl Clark
15 Joe Philbin
16 Joe Westerman
17 Ben Currie
Combined Nations
1 Jake Connor
2 Jermaine McGillvary
3 Peter Mata’utia
4 Ricky Leutele
5 Ken Sio
6 Jackson Hastings
7 Aidan Sezer
8 Luke Yates
9 Kruise Leeming
10 Chris Satae
11 Kenny Edwards
12 Andre Savelio
13 Matt Prior
Substitutes
14 Nathan Peats
15 Suaia Matagi
16 Kelepi Tanginoa
17 Pauli Pauli
