Charnley hopeful of shrugging off shoulder injury

England winger Josh Charnley is hoping to be selected to play on home turf when the World Cup goes to Wigan for Saturday’s quarter-final clash with France.

Charnley, 22, has missed the last two games against Ireland and Fiji after scoring a try in the opener against Australia at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff with a shoulder problem.

Super League‘s top try scorer has seen replacement Tom Briscoe pick up two tries in the win over the Irish at Huddersfield, while other winger Ryan Hall has scored six tries in three games to top the tournament scoring charts.

Charnley said: “The strength of the squad is very good. Everyone wants to play so we are all fighting for spots and, if anything, it helps us play better as individuals.

“I have got to train hard this week to get the nod because Tom Briscoe and Ryan Hall have been good. There is a lot of competition in the squad, but if I do get to start it will be exciting to play at Wigan for the last time this year.

“I still want to play, but having the break is not too bad. My shoulder injury is something I have had for a while, so it is not too bad now but it is better to rest it up though.

“I am comfortable and I am alright playing with it. I get an injection before games but over the last couple of weeks I have been able to rest it up a bit more and it is feeling miles better.”

England‘s opponents France have scored just two tries in the tournament so far, with their narrow 9-8 win over Papua New Guinea enough to send them through to the last eight despite defeats to New Zealand and Samoa.

The game takes place at the DW Stadium on Saturday, with an 8pm kick-off, the same day Australia take on USA at Wrexham (1pm kick-off).

In the other quarter-finals, New Zealand take on Scotland at Leeds on Friday (8pm), and Samoa return to Warrington to play Fiji (Sunday, 3pm).

Photo courtesy of www.swpix.com