Smith hails Super League strength

Of the 12 English outfits, only Hull fail to provide a representative, a far cry from Smith's World Cup squad which was dominated by players from Leeds and St Helens.

The big two provide just five representatives, compared to 15 in the 24-strong squad that went to Australia, and that, according to Smith, indicates the increasingly competitive nature of Super League.

Huddersfield and Hull KR, surprise members of the top four at the halfway mark, provide two players each and there are representatives from four of the clubs occupying the bottom-six places in the table.

"This I believe is a reflection of the form of some of the players and clubs at the moment and also underlines just how competitive Super League is this season," said Smith.

Leeds winger Ryan Hall, Wigan half-back Sam Tomkins and Huddersfield hooker Scott Moore, who is on a season-long loan from St Helens, are the three uncapped players hoping to make their debuts at Stade Jean Bouin on Saturday week.

As expected, Smith has made sweeping changes following England's dismal World Cup performances, with just six survivors from last November's 32-22 semi-final defeat by New Zealand in Brisbane.

They are captain Jamie Peacock, James Graham, Danny McGuire, Adrian Morley, James Roby and Ben Westwood, while Sam Burgess and Sean O'Loughlin return to the international fold after missing the World Cup through injury.

Of the rest, Keith Senior has retired, Ade Gardner is injured and Gareth Ellis, who is now playing in Australia for Wests Tigers, was not considered.

Martin Gleeson, Paul Wellens, Leon Pryce, Rob Burrow, Mark Calderwood, Rob Purdham, Mickey Higham and Jon Wilkin have all been overlooked while other World Cup casualties are Paul Sykes, Lee Smith, Kevin Sinfield, Maurie Fa'asavalu, Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Jamie Langley.