England have confirmed the 24-man team that will look to win the Rugby League World Cup on home soil, with the tournament kicking off on October 15th as England host Samoa at St James’ Park, Newcastle.
Shaun Wane has opted to give former Man of Steel winning fullback Sam Tomkins the captain’s armband, reigniting a relationship the two shared at Wigan throughout the 2010s.
On top of Tomkins taking the captaincy, the lack of international rugby league means that this England side has seven uncapped players, including the NRL trio of Herbie Farnworth, Dom Young and Victor Radley.
Salford duo Marc Sneyd and Andy Ackers, Wigan’s Kai Pearce-Paul and Saints’ Joe Batchelor also feature in the side for the first time.
In terms of the most represented club in the England side, St Helens have the most with five players, with Batchelor, Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees, Tommy Makinson and Jack Welsby receiving the call from head coach Wane.
Two of the elder statesmen who England will be relying on are Chris Hill and Mike Cooper, who both enter the side aged 34. Hill receives a recall after Alex Walmsley had to remove himself from consideration after picking up a season-ending injury.
There could’ve been more as well, with Jonny Lomax and Mark Percival having to withdraw from the selection pool earlier this week as they both face injuries and enter the post-season rehabilitation period.
Hull KR winger Ryan Hall has the chance of becoming England’s most capped player, as he sits second in the all-time list on 39, five caps behind James Graham. Hall already has the record for most tries scored in an England shirt and continues to solidify his legacy with games in this tournament.
England have never won a World Cup, having reached the final three times under the one-nation flag. Great Britain have managed to collect three World Cup wins in 1954, 1960 and 1972. England have never finished lower than the semi-finals stages, losing out to Australia and New Zealand three times each, most recently in 2017 when Australia lifted the cup thanks to a narrow 6-0 at Lang Park.
England’s one and only pre-season game gets underway next Friday (7th October) against Fiji at the AJ Bell Stadium, before raising the curtain of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup against Samoa a week later.
England’s 24-man squad
Sam Tomkins © (Catalans Dragons)
Andy Ackers (Salford Red Devils)
Joe Batchelor (St Helens)
John Bateman (Wigan Warriors)
Tom Burgess (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
Mike Cooper (Wigan Warriors)
Herbie Farnworth (Brisbane Broncos)
Ryan Hall (Hull Kingston Rovers)
Chris Hill (Huddersfield Giants)
Morgan Knowles (St Helens)
Matty Lees (St Helens)
Tommy Makinson (St Helens)
Michael McIlorum (Catalans Dragons)
Mike McMeeken (Catalans Dragons)
Mikolaj Oledzki (Leeds Rhinos)
Kai Pearce-Paul (Wigan Warriors)
Victor Radley (Sydney Roosters)
Marc Sneyd (Salford Red Devils)
Luke Thompson (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs)
Kallum Watkins (Salford Red Devils)
Jack Welsby (St Helens)
Elliott Whitehead (Canberra Raiders)
George Williams (Warrington Wolves)
Dom Young (Newcastle Knights)
