Tommy Makinson is one of three uncapped players in Wayne Bennett’s England squad to face New Zealand in Colorado this month.
The wing has impressed for the runaway Super League leaders, St Helens, this season and Bennett has included the outside back in his 19-man squad for the Denver game on 23 June.
Bennett’s squad also includes all three Burgess brothers, with George returning to the fray alongside his twin brother, Thomas, and Sam having missed the cut for the World Cup last year. All three have performed excellently for South Sydney this season in the National Rugby League and they will reunite at international level for the Denver Test.
Makinson is one of three wings included, with Ryan Hall and Jermaine McGillvary both being called up, having featured in every game of England’s run to the World Cup final last year. There is no place for the highly rated Wakefield wing Tom Johnstone, though, despite his being called into the elite performance squad this year.
Thirteen of that 21-man EPS squad will travel to Denver, with six players from the NRL – the Burgess brothers, Elliott Whitehead, James Graham and Gareth Widdop – completing the group. But Luke Gale, Kallum Watkins and Alex Walmsley have all been ruled out because of injury, leaving open the possibility for Bennett to draft in players from the England Knights.
That squad, who will travel to Papua New Guinea for a two-game series against the Kumuls this year, features Hull’s Jake Connor, who has impressed for the Challenge Cup holders this season and has been widely tipped to earn his first Test cap this year.
Meanwhile the Leeds wing Tom Briscoe has agreed a new contract with the Super League champions, it is understood. Briscoe, who was overlooked for both the senior and England Knights squads this year, is the latest out-of-contract Leeds player to commit his long-term future to the club, along with Adam Cuthbertson and Ash Handley.
