Super League players selected for England’s trip to Australia to face Samoa in May will only miss one round of action, TotalRL can confirm.
Wayne Bennett will select a group of players to join up with his NRL-based stars for the game against the Samoans, which will be part of a unique triple-header on Saturday, May 5 in Sydney.
Bennett has agreed with Super League coaches to cap the number of players he selects from each club to just three, meaning clubs should not be too badly affected with the international fixtures.
And despite fears they would miss the games falling on the weekend preceding the fixture, the Rugby Football League have confirmed to TotalRL that only one round of games – Round 13 – will be classed as the one where players are on international duty.
That means no key players will miss Wigan’s mouthwatering clash with Castleford the weekend previous – the second time the sides will meet in April.
The fixtures the players will miss are:
- Huddersfield v Castleford – Thursday 4 May
- Warrington v St Helens – Friday 5 May
- Wigan v Salford – Friday 5 May
- Catalans v Leeds – Saturday 6 May
- Leigh v Wakefield – Saturday 6 May
- Widnes v Hull – Sunday 7 May
All the players selected will then be available for selection the following weekend, which is the weekend of the Challenge Cup.
