Jake Connor and Tom Burgess get the nod for Great Britain

GREAT BRITAIN coach Wayne Bennett has made three changes, two of them forced, to his provisional starting line-up for Saturday's first Test against New Zealand in Auckland.
By Robert Gledhill
Published 29th Oct 2019, 07:54 BST
Ready for the Test: Dewsbury-born Tom Burgess.Ready for the Test: Dewsbury-born Tom Burgess.
Ready for the Test: Dewsbury-born Tom Burgess.

Britain are without centre Oliver Gildart (shoulder) and prop Luke Thompson (rib) after they were injured in Saturday's 14-6 defeat by a Tongan Invitational XIII, while Lachlan Coote loses the full-back spot to his St Helens team-mate Jonny Lomax.As expected, Jake Connor replaces Gildart while Tom Burgess starts in the front row after being among the replacements in Hamilton and Warrington forward Joe Philbin is set to make his GB debut from the bench.

Philbin played in all three games for Ireland in the 2017 World Cup and was promoted into the Lions squad from the England Knights team that toured Papua New Guinea 12 months ago.The 21-man squad, which will be cut to 19 on Friday, is: J Lomax (St Helens); J McGillvary (Huddersfield), Z Hardaker (Wigan), J Connor (Hull), R Hall (Sydney Roosters); G Widdop (St George Illawarra), J Hastings (Salford); C Hill (Warrington), J Hodgson (Canberra), T Burgess (Sydney Roosters), J Bateman (Canberra), E Whitehead (Canberra), J Graham (St George Illawarrra (capt). Replacements (from): J Jones (Salford), J Philbin (Warrington), D Clark (Warrington), A Walmsley (St Helens), J Hughes (Warrington), G Williams (Wigan), J Trueman (Castleford), B Austin (Warrington).

Related topics:Jake ConnorGreat BritainLachlan CooteWarringtonNew Zealand