Roosters winger Dominic Young was ruled out with a hand injury and Rabbitohs prop Tom Burgess dropped when England's 19-man squad was named for the second and final Test against Samoa in Leeds.
In the Samoan side, Parramatta’s Jake Tago has replaced his brother, Penrith’s Izack, who is unavailable through injury
The return of former Canterbury forward Luke Thompson from suspension appears to have cost Burgess his spot after the Huddersfield-bound 32-year-old played 23 minutes off the bench in the First Test at Wigan, won 34-18 by England.
A bit of push and shove in Wigan
The minor hand injury means Young is batting at one from five possible home Test appearances in the past year.
The 23-year-old winger was hospitalised by a sinus infection that spread to his brain before the 2023 Tests against Tonga and played no part.
Super League’s leading try scorer, Wigan’s Liam Marshall, is now almost certain to make his full Test debut after taking on Fiji in a World Cup warm-up match two years ago.
Canberra’s Morgan Smithies has not forced his way into the squad, meaning the tally of NRL players falls to four.
Samoa coach Ben Gardiner said before training in York that one of his charges was in doubt with a shoulder problem.
When the media release naming the team was issued mid-afternoon, Izack Tago was reported only to have been laid low by "a minor injury" and management would not elaborate further.
Another change to the Toa Samoa 19-man squad - which is perhaps unlikely to have an impact on the match-day list - is Canberra's Simi Sasagi replacing Warrior Paul Roche.
Samoa brilliance gives Mariner his second
England coach Shaun Wane said: “I’ve had to make a few changes to my 19 following on from last weekend’s victory and that is why having a strong squad is so important. I’m confident with the lads I have had to bring in".
Gardiner commented: "We sort of already prepared for some of those players in the (England) extended squad, thinking that they would have played last weekend".
While a Samoa win would level the series with no tie-break mechanism in place, the match will count towards IRL rankings. Samoa are currently clear fourth, some 18 percentage points ahead of fifth-placed Tonga.
Bruising defence from Dom Young
"Definitely something to be proud of," Gardiner said of the ranking.
"I think it's an interesting way that they rank it. Every team plays against a team of different quality. I think it's not necessarily the most objective way to do it but at the end of the day, you've got to do it somehow."
Teams for the match, which kicks off at the Headingley Stadium at 2.30pm Saturday local time (1.30am Sunday AEDT) are:
ENGLAND (squad): Matty Ashton (Warrington), John Bateman (Wests Tigers), Daryl Clark (St Helens), Ben Currie (Warrington), Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins), Ethan Havard (Wigan), Morgan Knowles (St Helens), Matty Lees (St Helens), Mikey Lewis (Hull KR), Liam Marshall (Wigan), Mike McMeeken (Wakefield), Harry Newman (Leeds), Junior Nsemba (Wigan), Kai Pearce-Paul (Newcastle), Victor Radley (Sydney Roosters), Harry Smith (Wigan), Luke Thompson (Wigan), Jack Welsby (St Helens), George Williams (capt, Warrington).
SAMOA (squad): John Asiata (Hull FC), Shawn Blore (Melbourne), Gordon Cham Kum Tong (Manly), Luciano Leilua (St George Illawarra), Jarome Luai (capt, Wests Tigers), Deine Mariner (Brisbane), Terrell May (Sydney Roosters), Anthony Milford (Dolphins), Francis Molo (St George Illawarra), Jeremiah Nanai (North Queensland), Kennan Palasia (Leeds), Junior Pauga (Sydney Roosters), Simi Sasagi (Canberra), Blaize Talagi (Penrith), Jeral Skelton (Wests Tigers), Jake Tago (Parramatta), Jazz Tevaga (Manly), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Warriors), Lazarus Vaalepu (Melbourne).
