England’s head coach and captain insist they have assembled a squad capable of winning the Rugby League World Cup despite a string of frontline absentees withdrawing from the tournament. Shaun Wane’s 24-man squad includes seven players yet to win a senior international cap, while regular starters such as Jonny Lomax, Mark Percival and Alex Walmsley are missing due to injury.
The Salford duo of Andy Ackers and Marc Sneyd are among the players who could win their first caps against Fiji in a warm-up Test next Friday. The NRL trio of Herbie Farnworth, Dom Young and Victor Radley are also vying for a maiden international appearance, as are Wigan’s Kai Pearce-Paul and St Helens’ Joe Batchelor. But despite that inexperience Wane, whose side kick off the tournament against Samoa on 15 October, insists that he has the squad to win the World Cup on home soil.
