England v France: The eye-catching numbers surrounding mid-season test

England take on France in an international double header at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington on Saturday.

With the squads now announced, we pore over some of the numbers coming out of those involved.

3 – Three survivors from England World Cup squad

It’s perhaps not a surprise that only three players from England’s World Cup squad have been included for this international.

Seven of the 24-man squad from the World Cup play in the NRL, so were automatically discounted from selection.

The retiring Sam Tomkins was not considered either, and his team-mates from Catalans – Michael McIlorum and Mike McMeeken – were also not selected.

Veterans Ryan Hall and Chris Hill are in the twilight of their careers, and Mike Cooper suffered a bad injury for Wigan recently.

The only three survivors from the World Cup squad for whatever reason are Jack Welsby, George Williams and Kai Pearce-Paul.

13 – Warrington and Wigan players in England squad

The match is being played at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington and England coach Shaun Wane is of course a proud Wiganer.

But even taking that in to consideration, it is a surprise to see the squad dominated so much by players from those two clubs, despite their status at the top of the Super League table.

Maybe it’s a sign that these two clubs are more supportive of the international game than others.

Matty Ashton, Ben Currie, James Harrison, Matty Nicholson, Josh Thewlis, Danny Walker and captain George Williams from Warrington are in, along with Wigan’s Ethan Havard, Toby King, Kai Pearce-Paul, Harry Smith, Morgan Smithies and Jake Wardle.

Leeds provide two players in Ash Handley and Tom Holroyd, as do Hull KR in Mikey Lewis and Jez Litten, with one each from Salford (Tyler Dupree) and St Helens (Jack Welsby).

1 – Only a solitary player from the four-time Super League champions

St Helens have been doing it tough at times this season and although they had eight players named in Shaun Wane’s initial squad, just one – Jack Welsby – is in contention to feature in the match.

Tommy Makinson, Mark Percival and Alex Walmsley have all been missing for Saints through injury, while Morgan Knowles is banned having been handed a five-match suspension for a ‘hip-drop’ tackle recently.

Matty Lees, Jonny Lomax and Lewis Dodd were all reported to have withdrawn earlier this week.

15 – Players who featured for second tier rep sides in 2022

Between the two squads, there are a total of 15 players who featured in the match between France B and England Knights back in October.

Warrington winger Josh Thewlis marked his Knights debut with a try that day, and also in the starting line-up for the 18-6 win in Merignac were Jake Wardle, Mikey Lewis, Danny Walker, Ethan Havard and Matty Nicholson. Jez Litten and Tyler Dupree featured on the bench.

They’re added to the seven players who featured for France B in that match, who are in contention to feature for Laurent Frayssinous’ senior team on Saturday.

They are Tiaki Chan, Mathieu Cozza, Romain Franco, Cesar Rouge, Bastien Scimone, Ugo Tison and Florian Vailhen.

3 – Players in the France squad from the French Elite Championship

There are three players from the French Elite Championship named in Laurent Frayssinous’ squad, including former Warrington and Catalans back-rower Benjamin Jullien, now plying his trade with Pia.

Pia team-mate Florian Vailhen is also included, as is St Esteve winger Romain Franco, who does have Super League experience with Catalans.

With the French Elite Championship heading to the play-offs next weekend, it is perhaps not surprising that players from Carcassonne, Albi and other teams involved in the battle for the title haven’t been included.

Full-back Morgan Escare and centre Hakim Miloudi both featured for Carcassonne and Albi respectively last weekend in the Lord Derby Cup final.

4 – Players in the France squad playing outside of France

While the whole England squad comes from English Super League teams, the France team does include players that are playing away from their home land.

Leeds’ Justin Sangare, who made the move to Headingley from Toulouse in the off-season, and Wakefield centre Samisoni Langi are the two England-based Super League players in the squad.

They are joined by Halifax half-back Louis Jouffret and Featherstone’s Mathieu Cozza, one of several French players playing for former national team assistant coach Sean Long at Post Office Road in 2023.

12 – France players from the World Cup

Half of the squad Laurent Frayssinous picked at the World Cup are included in his 20-man squad for the England test.

Though it is worth noting that Theo Fages, Julian Bousquet, Romain Navarrette and Lucas Albert all missed the World Cup through injury, and aren’t included in this squad either.

Unfortunately, the 12 missing since the World Cup include several big names – like Ben Garcia, Morgan Escare, Tony Gigot and Eloi Pelissier.

Corentin Le Cam has since switched to rugby union.

8 – St Helens players in women’s squad

Jack Welsby might be the only St Helens representative in the men’s squad, but there are eight in the women’s squad.

They include skipper Jodie Cunningham, who will lead England for the first time after succeeding team-mate Emily Rudge, who is also in the squad.

They are joined by club-mates Leah Burke, Zoe Harris, Shona Hoyle, Tara Jones, Vicky Whitfield and Eboni Partington.

Shaun Wane names 19-man England squad for France test

Laurent Frayssinous confirms 20-man France squad to face England