England coach Brian McDermott has made two major changes to his side for the must-win World Cup game against Papua New Guinea.

Points are at a premium once again for England as they head to Wollongong for the final match of the group stage. They must overturn a 68-point swing on Samoa and hope they lose to Tonga in the process on Sunday, with only a big win against the Kumuls on Friday morning giving them any chance of progression to the semi-finals.

And McDermott has opted to mix up his pack in a bid to unlock more points – with Jez Litten coming in to start the game and Morgan Knowles returning from injury.

England make two changes for PNG game

Litten has been one of the standouts for England yet again this autumn, just as he was in last year’s Ashes. And his performance against France last weekend has seen the Hull KR star promoted from the bench to the starting line-up, with Litten getting the nod and the number nine shirt.

Interestingly, there is no Brad O’Neill at all in the 19-man squad named by McDermott, with the Wigan Warriors hooker only making the reserves.

The other significant change sees the return of Dolphins forward Knowles. He was a late withdrawal from the team that played Tonga in week one, having been initially named in the front row.

However, Knowles will now play in his more familiar role of 13 this weekend upon his return to the team, with Victor Radley dropping down to the six-man interchange bench.

McDermott has opted to stick with the same side apart from those two changes; meaning George Williams and Harry Smith continue at half-back, and there is still no place in the starting line-up for Mikey Lewis.

Much like last week though, Lewis and Jack Welsby will almost certainly play a key role from the bench.

England team to play Papua New Guinea

England: AJ Brimson, Dom Young, Hugo Savala, Herbie Farnworth, Matty Ashton, George Williams, Harry Smith, Max King, Jez Litten, Luke Thompson, Junior Nsemba, Kai Pearce-Paul, Morgan Knowles. Interchange: Mikey Lewis, Sam Walters, Ethan Havard, Victor Radley, Ben Currie, Jack Welsby. Reserves: Brad O’Neill, Zach Eckersley, Kallum Watkins.