THREE Saints players will feature for England against Australia in the opening clash of Rugby League World Cup 2017.
Jonny Lomax is named at full-back along with James Roby and Alex Walmsley on the bench, with Mark Percival missing out on the Pool A battle at AAMI Park, Melbourne, on Friday, at 10am (UK time).
Uncapped Walmsley, Betfred Super League’s top metre-maker, featured in England’s only pre-tournament fixture against Combined Affiliated States along with Roby, who returns to the squad after last appearing in the 2015 International Series win over New Zealand.
This will be 31-year-old Roby’s third World Cup after representing his country in 2008 and 2013. He made 2186 metres in the league this season and 1000 tackles.
Super League Man of Steel, Luke Gale, and Dally M half-back of the Year, Gareth Widdop have both been included in the starting 13. Between them, they have scored over 400 league points for their clubs in 2017.
England will be captained by Sean O’Loughlin who will be joined in the forwards by Sam Burgess, James Graham, Josh Hodgson, Elliott Whitehead and Chris Hill, who will be making his 20th appearance for his country.
England Head Coach, Wayne Bennett, has selected 13 players in the 21-man squad that featured during the mid-season Test victory against Samoa in May.
Bennett’s side have been in Perth pre-tournament for a week preparing for the opening game before heading to Melbourne on Monday.
“Preparation for this game has been going very well and our time in Perth was used to work on the things we highlighted from the Four Nations last year,” said Bennett.
“The players have been working hard on and off the field to put themselves in a good position come Friday night. We all know what’s in front of us and they’re well aware of what is expected of them.
“Alex and the rest of the squad all showed me how much they want to play for their country against Affiliated States. This is a very talented team who are keen to get this tournament started.
“We won’t be worrying about the result against Australia, the focus will be on how we play, how we manage the opposition and making sure we compete for the full game.”
Melbourne full back Billy Slater will return to the Australian team for the first time in 30 months, while Storm forward Jordan McLean and Cronulla utility Wade Graham have been chosen to make their Test debuts in Friday morning’s game at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
AUSTRALIA:
1 Billy SLATER
2 Dane GAGAI
3 William CHAMBERS
4 Joshua DUGAN
5 Valentine HOLMES
6 Michael MORGAN
7 Cooper CRONK
8 Aaron WOODS
9 Cameron SMITH (c)
10 David KLEMMER
11 Boyd CORDNER
12 Matt GILLETT
13 Jake TRBOJEVIC
14 Wade GRAHAM
15 Jordan MCLEAN
16 Joshua MCGUIRE
17 Tyson FRIZELL
18 Reagan CAMPBELL-GILLARD
19 Ben HUNT
20 Tom TRBOJEVIC
21 Felise KAUFUSI
ENGLAND:
1 Jonny LOMAX
2 Jermaine MCGILLVARY
3 Kallum WATKINS
4 John BATEMAN
5 Ryan HALL
6 Gareth WIDDOP
7 Luke GALE
8 Chris HILL
9 Josh HODGSON
10 James GRAHAM
11 Sam BURGESS
12 Elliott WHITEHEAD
13 Sean O'LOUGHLIN (c)
14 Alex WALMSLEY
15 Chris HEIGHINGTON
16 Thomas BURGESS
17 James ROBY
18 Ben CURRIE
19 Kevin BROWN
20 Mark PERCIVAL
21 Scott TAYLOR
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