Tony Smith, the England head coach, made sweeping changes in drafting the uncapped Scott Moore, Sam Tomkins and Ryan Hall into the squad to face France on Saturday week.
Moore, the Huddersfield Giants hooker who is on a season-long loan from St Helens, is the biggest surprise in the 19-man party for the game in Paris.
Tomkins, the Wigan Warriors stand-off, has made a big impression in his first full senior season and Hall's 13 tries on the wing for Leeds Rhinos have made him the league's joint-leading tryscorer.
Last night's announcement was brought forward from today after it mistakenly appeared on the RFL's website, but confirmed Smith's thinking that new blood is required after last year's World Cup disappointment.
Only Jamie Peacock, the captain, James Graham, Danny McGuire, Adrian Morley, James Roby, Gareth Hock and Ben Westwood have kept their places, while Sam Burgess and Sean O'Loughlin return after missing the World Cup through injury.
Shaun Briscoe and Peter Fox, who controversially missed out on the initial England elite squad last month, are included, along with Richard Myler, Tony Clubb and Michael Shenton who played against Wales last year. Eorl Crabtree, the Huddersfield prop, has earned his first senior call up after nine second-string England appearances.
“The players are chosen from a number of clubs on form and reflects just how competitive Super League is. We'll be looking at a number of new faces to see how they perform, with one eye on this autumn's Four Nations,” Smith said.
Smith, in his other capacity as Warrington Wolves head of coaching, pulled off another surprise yesterday by signing Brian Carney, the former Great Britain wing, who switched codes after the 2006 Tri-Nations series but made only 19 appearances for Munster and four more for Ireland.
Carney, 33 next month, will link up with Warrington once his contract with the Irish Rugby Union expires at the end of the month. Because he was registered before last week's Challenge Cup deadline, he will be available for the semi-final against Wigan Warriors, Carney's former club, in Widnes on August 8.
England squad (v France, Paris, June 13): R Atkins (Wakefield), S Burgess (Bradford), S Briscoe (Hull KR), T Clubb (Harlequins), E Crabtree (Huddersfield), P Fox (Hull KR), J Graham (St Helens), R Hall (Leeds), G Hock (Wigan), D McGuire (Leeds), S Moore (Huddersfield), A Morley (Warrington), R Myler (Salford), S O'Loughlin (Wigan), J Peacock (Leeds, captain), J Roby (St Helens), M Shenton (Castleford), S Tomkins (Wigan), B Westwood (Warrington).
Source:The times
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