England have been dealt an injury blow ahead of their Rugby League World Cup clash with Australia after NRLW back-rower Jasmin Strange was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament.

Strange, a heritage player in England’s side and one of five NRLW players in the England squad, has suffered a knee injury in training and has been ruled out of the campaign. It has been confirmed she will not be replaced in the squad.

Strange plays or Sydney Roosters and was part of the England side that thrashed Wales in their opening game of the campaign, but she will now miss crucial clashes against the Jillaroos and Samoa as they look to advance to the semi-final stage of the tournament.

She won NRLW with the Roosters last year and made an impressive England debut, scoring one try and creating another.

In her absence, England will Lucy Murray of Leeds Rhinos to the starting side, head coach Stuart Barrow has confirmed.

Barrow said: “As a player, she played very well at the weekend so we lose a bit of quality there but we brought 23 players who are competing for shirts so we’re very confident that we can cover that loss.

“It’ll be a straight swap for Lucy (Murray), she was very close in the first selection and was very close again this week. She was ready to go and with Jas playing in that back row spot, Lucy will come straight in and she’s trained really well today with the group.”

England have already made changes to their side to play the defending world champions, headlined by the decision to start Jenna Foubister, with Georgia Roche moved to the bench. Foubister partners Wigan Warriors teammate Izzy Rowe in the halves.