Rugby League: Britain Bring Sinfield Out of the Cold

Great Britain's new coach Tony Smith has recalled his Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield after a two-year exile for the one-off Test with France at Headingley on Friday week.

Sinfield was surprisingly omitted by Brian Noble for the last two Tri-Nations series but his club form and versatility have earned him a place in a 23-man squad missing a dozen senior members from the party for last autumn's Tri-Nations - most of whom have been rested - and including no fewer than five players who have been rejected by Wigan.

"Kevin probably hasn't had as many international starts as he would have liked," Smith conceded of the 26-year-old loose-forward. "But he's got a wide range of qualities, including goal-kicking, and his defence has improved dramatically."

Warrington's hooker Jon Clarke, 28, is the oldest and most unlikely of the Wigan rejects and as one of two specialist hookers, along with St Helens's James Roby, looks likely to start. The four other players deemed surplus to requirements at the JJB Stadium in recent years are Stephen Wild and Kevin Brown of Huddersfield, the Salford wing David Hodgson and Chris Melling, Harlequins' 22-year-old full-back.

Seasoned internationals such as Jamie Peacock, Paul Wellens, Keith Senior and Leon Pryce have been omitted to give them a rest, although Smith expects them all to return for the New Zealand series in the autumn. The team to face France will be finalised next Wednesday but Smith seems certain to give his Leeds half-backs Danny McGuire and Rob Burrow their first chance together at international level.

Great Britain: Thorman (Huddersfield), Melling (Harlequins), Hodgson (Salford), Gardner (St Helens), Wild (Huddersfield), Yeaman (Hull), Sykes (Harlequins), Brown (Huddersfield), McGuire
Burrow (both Leeds), Clarke (Warrington), Roby (St Helens), Carvell (Hull), Coley (Salford), Graham (St Helens), Morley (Warrington, capt), Lynch (Bradford), Ellis (Leeds), Hock (Wigan), Langley (Bradford), Wilkin (St Helens), O'Loughlin (Wigan), Sinfield (Leeds).