O’Loughlin ruled out of World Cup final

England captain Sean O’Loughlin has been ruled out of the World Cup final with a quad strain.

Wayne Bennett’s England side take on Mal Meninga’s Australia outfit in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup final on Saturday at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, 9am kick-off.

Sam Burgess will now captain the Lions and he has past experience in leading the side, he did it during the 2016 Four Nations.

Ben Currie has now moved into the back-row from the interchange bench, while Sam Burgess will take up the loose forward role in the absence of O’Loughlin.

Full-back or half-back, Jonny Lomax, who has not played since Round 2 of the group stage, replaced O’Loughlin in the 17-man squad and will start the game on the bench.

England 19-man squad to face Australia: 1. Gareth Widdop, 2. Jermaine McGillvary, 3. Kallum Watkins, 4. John Bateman, 5. Ryan Hall, 6. Kevin Brown, 7. Luke Gale, 8. Chris Hill, 9. James Roby, 10. James Graham, 16. Ben Currie, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 11. Sam Burgess (C).

Interchange: 14. Alex Walmsley, 15. Tom Burgess, 17. Chris Heighington, 18. Jonny Lomax.

Reserves: 19. Scott Taylor, 20. George Williams.

You can watch the 2017 Rugby League World Cup final LIVE on BBC One from 08:30am on Saturday 2 December.