Hock booted out of England squad

Gareth Hock has been booted out of England‘s World Cup squad due to “serious breaches of team discipline.”

The Salford-bound forward, who spent 2013 on loan at Widnes, will be replaced by Brett Ferres in Steve McNamara’s 24 man squad.

An official statement read: “As a result of serious breaches of team discipline that have fallen below the strict code of conduct as agreed by team management, Gareth Hock has been withdrawn from the England Rugby League World Cup squad with immediate effect. He is replaced by Huddersfield Giants player Brett Ferres.

“There will be no further comment issued by England Rugby League on this matter.”

Salford owner Dr Koukash took to Twitter to defend his new signing, hinting that Hock may reveal the “facts” of the story on Wednesday.

Ferres travelled to South Africa with the England team earlier this month as the stand-by squad member.

He played for the England Knights team that defeated Samoa on Saturday, before the full England team were upset 15-14 by Italy.