Rugby League: Wilkin Gets the Nod As Smith Shapes New Britain

Jon Wilkin has earned the most fiercely contested position in the first Great Britain team selected by the new national coach, Tony Smith, for tomorrow's one-off Test against France at Headingley.

The St Helens loose forward has displaced Wigan's Sean O'Loughlin, who was the first choice of the previous coach, Brian Noble, during last autumn's Tri-Nations series, and held off further competition from Bradford's Jamie Langley and Kevin Sinfield, who is Smith's No13 at Leeds.

Unusually, Wilkin's three rivals have all been selected for the interchange bench, which is completed by the Saints prop James Graham. That means Smith has no specialist replacements should any of his threequarters suffer an injury.

Wilkin, a 23-year-old who joined St Helens from Hull Kingston Rovers as a teenager, was outstanding in a 40-0 win against his former club on Sunday, combining tough defence with the increased creativity he has developed during Paul Sculthorpe's regular injury absences in the past three seasons.

His previous three Test caps have all been as a substitute, and his Saints team-mate James Roby has also been handed a starting debut at hooker after making a positive impression off the bench in Britain's four Tri-Nations matches last year.

Chris Melling, the Harlequins full-back, has been preferred to Huddersfield's Chris Thorman, and with his team-mate Paul Sykes also selected as center and the only specialist goalkicker in the starting 13 it is the first time two London-based players have been included in a Great Britain team.

Huddersfield's Kevin Brown, the Hull centre Kirk Yeaman and Warrington's hooker Jon Clarke are the other players from the 22-man squad not to make the final cut, with Hull's prop Garreth Carvell and the Wigan second-row Gareth Hock ruled out by injury. That means new caps for the Bradford prop Andy Lynch and Salford's Andy Coley in addition to Melling, Sykes and Langley.

"This is a new beginning not only for the players but also the coaching staff," said Smith, who did not consider about half a dozen senior players so as to leave them fresher for the autumn series against New Zealand. "This is a really strong side and the perfect opportunity for a number of these players to stake their claim."

France's coach, John Monie, named 11 players with Super League experience: seven from the Catalans Dragons plus the former Wakefield players Sylvain Houles and Max Greseque, the current Trinity prop Olivier Elima and Harlequins' Julien Rinaldi. The Catalans are poised to strengthen for the 2008 Super League season by signing Dane Carlaw, a Brisbane Broncos forward.

Warrington will today announce the signing of Chris Hicks, a 30-year-old wing from Manly, on a two-year contract. He becomes their third recruit for 2008, following his Manly team-mate Michael Monaghan and the New Zealand hooker Louis Anderson.

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

France: Bosc; Villegas, Stacul, Houles, Planas; Greseque, Moly; Guisset (capt), Rinaldi, Ferriol, Anselme, Elima, Cologni.Interchange (from) Borlin, Gossard, Mounis, Wynne, Griffi.