Westerman is one of the rising stars in Super League

Castleford's Joe Westerman has been called into the England squad as a replacement for Wigan's Sean O'Loughlin ahead of Saturday's match in France.

O'Loughlin picked up a knee injury in Wigan's 34-18 win over Salford, opening the door for 19-year-old Westerman.

Centre Ryan Atkins has a shoulder injury but should be fit to play.

France winger Cyril Stacul has a broken thumb, prop David Ferriol a sprained ankle and lock Olivier Elima an eye injury meaning the trio are ruled out.

The three Catalans Dragons player picked up the injuries in the 32-30 Super League win over Leeds in Perpignan last Saturday.

The withdrawals have meant France coach Bobbie Goulding has called up Catalans' 21-year-old uncapped winger Frederick Vaccari, who has yet to play in Super League, and second rower Julien Touxagas to his 18-man squad.

606: DEBATE What do you think about Westerman's call-up?

England's Jamie Peacock was fearing a suspension following a a high tackle on Greg Bird in Leeds' win over the Dragons but has escaped suspension so is available.

Bradford forward Sam Burgess may have been unavailable if he had been suspended for being sin-binned for his part in a second-half flare-up against Wakefield on Sunday.

But Burgess escaped a ban after he and Wakefield captain Jason Demetriou were both yellow carded by referee Thierry Alibert.

The Peacock and Burgess incidents were reviewed by the Rugby Football League's match review panel on Monday and it was found that neither had a case to answer.

Meanwhile, Westerman, the Super League young player of the year in 2008, could be one of four players to make his debut in Paris, along with Huddersfield hooker Scott Moore, Wigan half-back Sam Tomkins and Leeds winger Ryan Hall.

Westerman, who was named as part of the elite training squad last month, was a member of the England squad that travelled to Toulouse last June for a mid-season international but did not feature in the match.

The highly-rated 19-year-old was also part of the England train-on squad last season but suffered a foot injury and was not selected for the World Cup.

The injury to O'Loughlin is further bad news for the 26-year-old, who missed the World Cup in Australia with a shoulder problem.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version