Mike McMeeken and Chris McQueen to make England debuts against Samoa

Castleford's McMeeken will start the match in the second row while Australian-born McQueen, who qualifies through his English father, will be on the bench

Mike McMeeken is one of two debutants this weekend (Getty)

Mike McMeeken and Chris McQueen will make their England debuts against Samoa in Sydney on Saturday.

Castleford's McMeeken will start the match in the second row while Australian-born McQueen, who qualifies through his English father, will be on the bench.

The big surprise by coach Wayne Bennett is the choice of late call-up Stefan Ratchford at full-back, with Zak Hardaker chosen at centre ahead of Mark Percival.

Percival's St Helens team-mate Alex Walmsley must wait for his England debut after being omitted from Bennett's 17-man squad, with Hull prop Scott Taylor the other player left out.

Ratchford, whose only previous appearance for England was against France last October, was a replacement for injured stand-off Gareth Widdop and his selection in the starting line-up means Bennett will have four forwards on the bench.

They include Cronulla second rower Chris Heighington, the other Australian-born player in the squad who is set to make his first England appearance for six years while Hardaker is recalled after an 18-month absence.

Kevin Brown, a late replacement for the injured George Williams, will partner Luke Gale in the halves while, as expected, prop James Graham has overcome a head injury and will win his 33rd cap.

"Samoa are a very good team - there's a lot of top NRL players in their squad," said Bennett.


 Chris McQueen's inclusion is a somewhat controversial one 
 (Getty)

"It's not going to be easy for us; we weren't looking for an easy game but we need to prove ourselves on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it and I'm sure they are too because I know they've got a hard game in front of them."

England team to play Samoa:

S Ratchford (Warrington); J McGillvary (Huddersfield), K Watkins (Leeds), Z Hardaker (Castleford), R Hall (Leeds); K Brown (Warrington), L Gale (Castleford); S Burgess (South Sydney), J Hodgson (Canberra), J Graham (Canterbury Bulldogs), M McMeeken (Castleford), E Whitehead (Canberra), S O'Loughlin (Wigan, capt).

Subs: C Hill (Warrington), C Heighington (Cronulla), C McQueen (Gold Coast), T Burgess (South Sydney).

PA