Wednesday 26 April 2017 10:36, UK
England will have to find a replacement for stand-off Gareth Widdop for the mid-season Test against Samoa after he was ruled out for around six weeks.
The Halifax-born player damaged knee ligaments in St George Illawarra's NRL defeat to Sydney Roosters on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after being named in England coach Wayne Bennett's 20-man squad for the international in Sydney on May 6.
"Scans have shown that Gareth has some significant damage to the medial collateral ligament in his left knee so for the next two weeks he will be in a brace," St George Illawarra's head of athletic performance Nathan Pickworth told the club's official website.
"After those two weeks, we'll have a good indication of his return-to-play time-frame but hopefully it will be somewhere around the six-week mark."
Widdop, who has been in good form for the Dragons so far this season, would have been an automatic selection against Samoa, where he would line up in the halves alongside either Castleford's Luke Gale or Wigan's George Williams.
They were the only half-backs named in the squad but Bennett still has the option to call up St Helens scrum-half Matty Smith or Warrington duo Kevin Brown and Stefan Ratchford from his England-based 30-man elite training squad.
Canberra half-back Blake Austin - who qualifies through his grandmother - could also be an option, alongside Australia-born forwards Chris McQueen and Chris Heighington.
