Thompson back for Lees in England squad

England boss Shaun Wane has named his 19-man squad for Saturday’s World Cup Semi Final against Samoa at London’s Emirates Stadium (2.30pm kick-off).

The Canterbury Bulldogs front-row Luke Thompson, who has not played since England’s second group game against France last month, returns to the 19 in place of his former St Helens teammate Matty Lees, in the only change to the squad named for last Saturday’s Quarter Final against Papua New Guinea.

It will be England’s 200th full international, but only their fifth against Samoa – the teams having met for the first time in a Rugby League World Cup in the opening game of this year’s tournament four weeks ago.

If included in the matchday 17, the Huddersfield Giants prop Chris Hill will climb to second in the all-time list of leading appearance makers at Rugby League World Cups.

Hill, who turned 35 last week, broke the British record previously shared by John Atkinson, Roger Millward and George Nicholls when he made his 15th World Cup appearance in the Quarter Final against PNG, bringing him level with the revered Australian Bob Fulton.

Cameron Smith holds the all-time record with 17 appearances spread across the 2008, 2013 and 2017 World Cups, captaining Australia to victory in each of the last two.

Hill is now the third most-capped England player of all-time with 33, behind only Ryan Hall (40) and James Graham (44), having overtaken James Roby last week. Tom Burgess is set to become the fifth player to win 30 caps this weekend, with Kallum Watkins and Sam Tomkins one cap behind on 28.

(All statistics courtesy of Rugby League Record Keepers Club)

Tickets remain available from £30 for adults and £15 for children – visit the RLWC2021 ticket site for more information