“I picked players on form” – Shaun Wane explains England squad selection

Recently Shaun Wane named a strong 40-man England squad as he prepares his side to take on France this weekend in preparation for the end of the season internationals and the 2025 World Cup.

Many were still not happy with the likes of Jake Connor and the league’s top try scorer left out in the shape of Josh Charnley.

However, Wane is adamant that he picked players on form as he said on BBC Five Live:

“I picked players on form, I’ve tried to pick certain players for certain positions as well. I can’t win though, if I picked 24 then the squad would be too small but picking 40 is too many. It was very much on players in form.

“I’d like more internationals, we’ll whittle the squad down before the French test and then roll into the Tonga tests at the end of the year.

“Everything’s about the next World Cup in ’25 and I’ve picked a squad that I feel can do a really good job but also fire and improve and get better in time so they’re peaking in 2025.”

He also addressed whether there could be mid-season camps:

“We’re not going to have many on feet. The players are full on with Super League and I learned a lesson last year with how many times I tried to get them on the field, we had to cancel through injuries.

“The players play a lot of games but we’ll gain a lot, not as much but still enough, through off-field meetings like on Monday. I’ll show footage of what the players are doing and what they can do better. That’s all we can do at the minute and they’ll be once or twice a month and the players will get feedback weekly.”