flag
back Atrás
England and Papua New Guinea make squad changes ahead of Rugby League World Cup meeting as NRL and Leigh Leopards stars drop out

There have been a number of changes to the team sheet ahead of England’s final Rugby League World Cup group game against Papua New Guinea tomorrow.

England know the task ahead of them – they must defeat the Kumuls by 68 points or more before relying on Tonga to defeat Samoa on Sunday, meaning they will have two days of sitting around in Australia hoping that Kristian Woolf’s side can do them a favour.

PNG aren’t mathematically out, but would need to defeat England by over 80 points and hope victory on Sunday went Samoa’s way. The game will be the final of Hull KR man Rhyse Martin’s career, as he bows out of the sport at the age of 33.

Ahead of tomorrow morning’s clash, both England and PNG have made changes to their initial squads that were released on Tuesday morning.

For Brian McDermott, he has swapped out two of his interchange players. Both NRL Grand Final winner Victor Radley and Warrington veteran Ben Currie come out of the side, with Jez Litten and Kallum Watkins replacing them.

McDermott spoke to the press this morning [Thursday], but no injury news was provided by the former Leeds and Toronto boss.

The Kumuls, meanwhile, have been forced into a more radical shuffle. Leigh Leopards star Edwin Ipape is omitted for reasons currently unknown. That forces club teammate Liam Horne to move to hooker, with Valentine Richard taking the starting loose forward role. Former Warrington centre Rodrick Tai comes on to the bench for Jason Demetriou’s side.

There has also been a squad update from England Women. Leeds Rhinos centre Evie Cousins will make her World Cup debut as she replaces Huddersfield’s Amelia Brown on the left wing.

Related Topics

You may like

Lions lock Hyron Andrews dies at team hotel before Champions Cup game against La Rochelle

The Guardian hace 1 semana

England have been stitched up by Australia – this World Cup feels more like a power grab

The Daily Star hace 2 horas

NRL forward in talks with Super League clubs over 2027 move after recent release

seriousaboutrl.com hace 1 día