Peacock injury not as bad as first feared

ENGLAND captain Jamie Peacock will be out of action for four to six weeks after Leeds Rhinos revealed the prop forward had suffered a knee injury in last Friday's win over Warrington Wolves.

Peacock will not require surgery but the injury means he misses the Rhinos' Challenge Cup clash with Wigan on May 29 but could be back for England's mid-season international against France on June 12.

Leeds physio Meirion Jones said: "Jamie Peacock has sprained knee ligaments and will not be available for the next 4-6 weeks.

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"Chris Clarkson sprained ankle ligaments in the same game and his progress will be monitored over the next few weeks."

New England head coach Steve McNamara, who has indicated Peacock will keep the captaincy under the new regime, will name his 19-man squad on Wednesday, June 1.

Peacock picked up the injury attempting to prevent Warrington captain Adrian Morley scoring a try just seven minutes into Friday's game.

Ironically, as vice-captain Morley would be the obvious candidate to once more step into Peacock's shoes as skipper if necessary.

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McNamara is thought to be keen to field his strongest team for his first match in charge, which will be England's only home international before the end-of-season Four Nations series in New Zealand and Australia.

Negotiations are currently taking place between the Rugby Football League and Australian clubs South Sydney and Wests Tigers to secure the release of Sam Burgess and Gareth Ellis.

Scrum-half Richie Myler, who scored a record 30 points in England's 66-12 win over France in Paris last June, has already been ruled of next month's game with a knee injury.