England men’s head coach Brian McDermott has selected an unchanged 19-man squad for the match against France, which takes place in Perth on Saturday. The fixture is part of Group B-C, with kick-off at 07.35 BST. England lost 30-12 to Tonga in their first match, a defeat that has put their chances of reaching the semi-finals in jeopardy.
AJ Brimson retains his place at full-back in the XIII, while Jack Welsby is among the replacements. Luke Thompson will continue to play at prop. Harry Smith will continue to play alongside England captain George Williams in the centres. Morgan Knowles is not yet fit to play following an injury sustained before the match against Tonga, and Mikey Lewis remains out of the squad.
Lewis was a heavily debated selection for the team as one of the centres ahead of Jake Connor, the 2025 Super League Man of Steel. The England men’s team consists of: AJ Brimson, Dom Young, Hugo Savala, Herbie Farnworth, Zach Eckersley, George Williams, Harry Smith, Max King, Brad O'Neill, Luke Thompson, Junior Nsemba, Kai Pearce-Paul and Victor Radley. The replacements are Jez Litten, Ben Currie, Ethan Havard, Sam Walters, Jack Welsby and Matty Ashton, with reserves Kallum Watkins, Mikey Lewis and Ben Talty.
England’s defeat by Tonga was the first in their history. They must win their next two matches, against France next Saturday and Papua New Guinea on 30 October, to have a realistic chance of progressing. Due to the World Cup format, England will likely need to win both matches by a large margin.
There is a strong possibility that England will not know their fate with certainty until two days later, when Tonga play Samoa, the 2022 finalists, in their final group match.
