The England coach, Steve McNamara, has kept faith with the team that lost to Australia for Saturday’s must-win Four Nations clash with New Zealand in Dunedin.
McNamara made two changes for the 16-12 defeat to the Kangaroos after initially naming the same team that beat Samoa in their opening game, drafting in captain Sean O’Loughlin after he completed his recovery from a leg injury and centre Dan Sarginson in a tactical swap for Michael Shenton.
O’Loughlin came through his comeback match unscathed and was cleared to play on Saturday after officials decided he had no case to answer after being placed on report for an alleged trip on Australia skipper Cameron Smith. Sarginson keeps his place after impressing on his Test debut.
England need to beat the Kiwis by 10 points to leapfrog them into top spot on the ladder and guarantee a place in the final in Wellington. If England win by fewer than nine points, they could be overhauled by Australia, who meet Samoa in the last round-robin game on Sunday.
Teams for New Zealand v England Test
England: Sam Tomkins, Josh Charnley, Kallum Watkins, Dan Sarginson, Ryan Hall, Gareth Widdop, Matty Smith, George Burgess, Josh Hodgson, James Graham, Liam Farrell, Joel Tomkins, Sean O’Loughlin (capt). Interchange: Daryl Clark, Brett Ferres, Tom Burgess, Chris Hill.
New Zealand: Peta Hiku, Jason Nightingale, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Dean Whare, Manu Vatuvei, Kieran Foran, Shaun Johnson, Jesse Bromwich, Issac Luke, Adam Blair, Simon Mannering (capt), Kevin Proctor, Jason Taumalolo. Interchange: Thomas Leuluai, Greg Eastwood, Martin Taupau, Tohu Harris, Lewis Brown.
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