England and Samoa have both confirmed their 19-man squads for the first Test match between the nations that will take place on Monday morning (Australian time).
England has decided against using Chris Hill, Danny Walker, Liam Marshall and Canberra Raiders forward Morgan Smithies, while former Bulldogs front-rower Luke Thompson will be absent due to a one-match suspension.
โI've had to make some difficult decisions selecting my squad for this weekend as we have real competition for places and everyone across the 24-man squad can make a strong case to be involved," England coach Shaun Wane said.
โI'm really happy with how we'll line-up on Sunday and I'm confident in the players I have picked to rise to what will be a tough challenge against Samoa.
England 19-man squad: Matty Ashton, John Bateman, Thomas Burgess, Ben Currie, Daryl Clark, Herbie Farnworth, Ethan Havard, Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees, Mikey Lewis, Mike McMeeken, Harry Newman, Junior Nsemba, Kai Pearce-Paul, Victor Radley, Harry Smith, Jack Welsby, George Williams, Dominic Young
For Samoa, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been named to make his international debut for the country after countless matches for the New Zealand Kiwis. New Penrith Panthers recruit Blaize Talagi is also set to earn his first cap and is a player to watch.
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โWe're not really worried about what happened in 2022,โ Samoa coach Ben Gardiner said.
โObviously they were brilliant games and the World Cup semi-final was a game of great excitement for both teams, but we're here to play this Test series.
โWe've got two Test matches to play with two very different sides that played in 2022.
"We've got a number of debutants and so do England, so it's a great opportunity for both groups to show where they're at right now. That's what we're planning on doing.โ
Samoa 19-man squad:ย John Asiata, Shawn Blore, Gordon Chan Kum Tong, Luciano Leilua, Jarome Luai, Deine Mariner, Terrell May, Anthony Milford, Francis Molo, Jeremiah Nanai, Keenan Palasia, Junior Pauga, Paul Roache, Blaize Talagi, Jeral Skelton, Izack Tago, Jazz Tevaga, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Lazarus Vaalepu
