Shaun Wane has recalled Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs prop forward Luke Thompson for England's vital Rugby League World Cup semi-final clash with Samoa at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Thompson replaces Matty Lees in the 19-player squad in the only change from the side which beat Papua New Guinea in the quarter-finals.
Thompson, the former St Helens front-rower who headed to the NRL in 2020, came off the bench in the opening-day mauling of Samoa at St James' Park and scored as a substitute in the Group A win over France which followed. But having been rested for the final group fixture against Greece he was then left out of the 19 against PNG in Wigan. But Wane has returned Thompson to the 19 in favour of Lees, the Saints star who was one of the four replacements in last week's 46-6 win.
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The rest of the squad remains the same, with Kai Pearce-Paul and Marc Sneyd again selected having been non-playing reserves against Papua New Guinea. While Pearce-Paul was nominated as the extra concussion substitute, Sneyd missed out entirely, and the expectation is that they will again be the pair missing out on the final 17 when England look to repeat their Group A heroics against Samoa.
Having lost 60-6 in that opener back in October, much more is expected of the Pacific Islanders when they face England once more. On that occasion they had only recently arrived in the country and nine of their number were coming off the high-intensity run-in to the NRL season which had included a Grand Final between Penrith Panthers and Parramatta Eels. But, four weeks on, the two sides are coming into the semi-final equally prepared and Samoa have the boost of having seen off the hugely-fancied Tonga 20-18 in Sunday's barnstorming quarter-final in Warrington.
Saturday's semi-final gets underway at 14:30GMT at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in London, with the winners facing either Australia or New Zealand in the World Cup final at Old Trafford seven days later.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
