England Rugby League

McCarthy-Scarsbrook gets England call

Wednesday 13th May 09

Harlequins RL’s Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook is among the new faces in the England elite training squad.

National coach Tony Smith has pledged to ring the changes following his side’s disappointing performances in the World Cup and McCarthy-Scarsbrook is thought to be among a host of uncapped players in the reckoning for the end-of-season Four Nations tournament.

The 23-year-old prop forward, who was born in Lewisham, is set to be included in Smith’s newly-formed training squad, which was one of the recommendations from the World Cup review.

The initial 17-strong squad, which will be announced tomorrow and increased throughout the rest of the season up to a maximum of 30, will be a mixture of seasoned internationals and emerging players.

Smith has pledged to learn the lessons from the World Cup, where England relied heavily on players from Leeds Rhinos and St Helens, and it is thought that his first 17 players will come from as many as nine of the 12 English engage Super League clubs.

McCarthy-Scarsbrook, who did not start playing rugby league until the age of 16, has been regarded as a potential Test player since breaking into the Harlequins team in 2007.

A broken wrist ruled him out of England’s mid-season international against France last year but he was named in Smith’s World Cup training squad.

Although he missed out in the final cut, McCarthy-Scarsbrook played in England’s World Cup warm-up match, a 74-0 win over Wales in Doncaster last October, and looks certain to face the French in Paris on June 13.

Smith has not ruled out selecting players from outside the training squad for the clash with Bobbie Goulding’s men or the Four Nations games with France, Australia and New Zealand in the autumn but those included will clearly have a head start.

The players named in the squad will benefit from individualised development plans and improved sports science throughout the season.
 
The initial group of 17 will also form part of a pool of players who, under new World Anti-Doping Agency regulations, will have to give their whereabouts for an hour each day for the next 365 days. Other players will continue to be randomly tested.

Meanwhile, Smith is likely to name his team for the French match in the first week of June.

“We’re planning on flying to France on the Monday so I’ll probably announce it the previous week,” he said.
“Heading into the weekend before they will know whether they are in or not, subject to coming through with their fitness.”

Forwards Sam Burgess (Bradford Bulls), Sean O’Loughlin (Wigan Warriors) and Garreth Carvell (Warrington Wolves) are all in contention after missing the World Cup through injury.

Goulding, a shock appointment as John Monie’s successor, held his first training session with the French in Carcassonne today.