Another change has been made ahead of England’s clash with France on Saturday morning
Mikey Lewis trains with England.
Mikey Lewis will feature on the bench for England on Saturday morning following a change in personnel from Brian McDermott.
McDermott confirmed during his press conference on Thursday morning that Matty Ashton would be given the nod to start against France in Perth this weekend. That change saw Zach Eckersley removed from the starting line-up, with the expectation being that the Wigan Warriors man would take up the spot Ashton had previously held on the bench.
However, it has now been confirmed that Eckersley has dropped out of the squad altogether this weekend, with Mikey Lewis being promoted from the reserves list to the bench.
The Hull KR man wasn’t included in the loss to Tonga in round one of the World Cup group stages and he probably wouldn’t have made it onto a four-man bench this week.
However, the extended bench allows Lewis to be included in the matchday squad and he’ll be an option for McDermott to turn to should a change need to be made in the halves against the French.
He’ll feature on the bench alongside his Rovers teammate Jez Litten, who will be hoping to play an important role this weekend.
Make sure you never miss the latest Hull KR news and opinion by making Hull Live one of your Google preferred sources.
Should he play, he’ll come directly up against fellow Robin Arthur Mourgue, who will start at full-back for France, while Jordan Dezaria is on the bench for Laurent Frayssinous’ side.
The rest of the England squad remains unchanged with Jack Welsby, who was unused last week, providing another spine option off the bench if needed, while Ben Currie, Ethan Havard and Sam Walters have also been named as interchanges.
Kallum Watkins, who was called up last week to replace the injured Morgan Smithies, has been named as England’s sole reserve.