Last updated at 12:11, Friday, 08 June 2012

Lee Mossop is in line to make his senior England debut in the International Origin opener against the Exiles next week after he was yesterday named in the 21-strong squad.

Lee Mossop

Warrington enforcer Adrian Morley, now 35, was one of 12 players selected in the original training squad in March not to make the cut.

And that should improve Mossop’s chance of making the final 17, as he is one of only four specialist props still in the squad.

Wigan scout Mike Docherty, who first spotted Mossop playing for Hensingham Under-11s, later guiding him to the Super League giants, is convinced he will line up for England at St Helens on Saturday week.

“He will be in the team, definitely,” said Egremont-based Docherty. “He started life in the second-row and is not just a bull who goes straight in.

“This lad can play rugby. Also watch his tackling. He’s one of the top tacklers in rugby league. He’s always up there in the tackling stakes, it’s a great part of his game.

“He is a good living young lad who has done everything expected of him. Every youngster in Cumbria should be looking at this lad and saying ‘this is my role model’.

“It’s something for them to aim at. He has set the platform.”

Mossop, from Whitehaven, is one of four uncapped players in the squad, who will meet up at their Loughborough base on Monday, and coach Steve McNamara will announce his team next Thursday.

“I’m really proud of what we have done with the England programme over the last 18 months,” McNamara said.

“With our training camps, training out of Loughborough, the Elite Training Squad and the Knights, I am really proud, and in the middle of it all is the international calendar and these two important fixtures against the Exiles.”

Huddersfield’s ex-Workington Town hooker Shaun Lunt, from Cockermouth, now on loan at Leeds Rhinos, has been named in a 23-strong England Knights squad to face Ireland, also at Langtree Park, next week.

First published at 11:26, Friday, 08 June 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk