England head coach Shaun Wane has named his 19-man squad for the third and final Ashes Test, with two changes made for Saturday’s clash against Australia at a sold-out Headingley.
After 26-6 and 14-4 defeats at Wembley and the Hill Dickinson Stadium respectively in the first two Tests, England trail 2-0 in the series and can no longer come out on top.
Instead, as they head to Leeds this weekend, the hosts will be playing for little but pride as they look to avoid a 3-0 whitewash on home soil.
Intent on securing that whitewash, the Kangaroos have gone full strength for the third and final Test despite their head coach Kevin Walters suggesting previously that might not be the case.
England name 19-man squad for third Ashes Test with x changes and huge x call made
Wane’s two changes from the 19 named last week ahead of the second Test on Merseyside see Hull KR winger Joe Burgess and Leeds Rhinos centre Harry Newman enter the fold.
Providing both of those take to the field, which it appears they will, every member of England‘s 24-man squad this autumn will have played some minutes in at least one of the three Tests.
The two changes are like-for-like, with Burgess replacing fellow winger Dom Young and Newman taking the place of fellow centre Jake Wardle.
Newcastle Knights speedster Young was forced off in the closing stages of last weekend’s defeat at Everton, and looked to have picked up a substantial injury.
Newman has been part of the England setup under Wane since making his debut in 2023, and his only try for the national side to date came at Headingley against Tonga that same year.
Burgess meanwhile has three international caps to his name, but they were all earned in 2015.
A decade on, he’s expected to play his fourth game for England – and will do so on the back of a season which saw him score for 24 tries in 25 appearances for KR as they won the treble.
England’s 19-man squad for third Ashes Test at Headingley…
AJ Brimson, Joe Burgess, Daryl Clark, Herbie Farnworth, Tom Johnstone, Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees, Mikey Lewis, Jez Litten, Mike McMeeken, Harry Newman, Mikolaj Oledzki, Kai Pearce-Paul, Harry Smith, Morgan Smithies, Owen Trout, Alex Walmsley, Kallum Watkins, George Williams
