England bring in Litten and Knowles as O'Neill leaves World Cup matchday squad

England have named Jez Litten and Morgan Knowles in their starting side for the Men's Rugby League World Cup meeting with Papua New Guinea, while Brad O'Neill has been left out of the 19-player matchday squad. BBC Sport reported the changes on Tuesday as head coach Brian McDermott announced his selection for England's final Group B-C fixture in Wollongong.

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Hull KR hooker Litten replaces O'Neill, who started in the number nine shirt during Saturday's victory over France. O'Neill was named Super League's best player in 2026 but is listed among the reserves for the Papua New Guinea game. His omission from the matchday group follows England's 82-0 win, a result that kept their chances of progressing alive after an opening defeat.

Knowles returns at lock after a calf injury kept him out of England's first two matches. The Dolphins player takes the starting place of Victor Radley, who moves to the bench. Warrington winger Matty Ashton, introduced for the France match, keeps his place. Wigan's Zach Eckersley remains outside the matchday 19 and is named among the reserves alongside O'Neill and Kallum Watkins.

The announced selection is not necessarily the side that will take the field. BBC Sport noted that McDermott changed his initial matchday squad before each of England's opening two fixtures and could make further adjustments. The match against co-hosts Papua New Guinea is scheduled for Friday, 30 October, with kick-off at 09:05 GMT.

England's position in the competition remains complicated despite the scale of their victory over France. They lost their opening match 30-12 to Tonga and must beat Papua New Guinea to retain a route to the semi-finals. They also need Tonga to defeat Samoa when those teams meet in Sydney on Sunday, 1 November.

A Samoa victory would eliminate England because of their inferior head-to-head record against Tonga. If Tonga win, the remaining qualification question would be settled by points difference between England and Samoa. According to BBC Sport, England's current figure is 68 points worse than Samoa's, leaving qualification dependent on the margins as well as the outcomes of the remaining matches.