BY CURTIS WOODWARD

ENGLAND

Wayne Bennett has dropped England’s veteran playmaker Gareth Widdop for their clash with Scotland this weekend.

He has been replaced by Wigan’s George Williams.

“I’ll try to stay as close to the team that I will probably pick to play against Australia,” Bennett said.

“We just need more time together, this team won’t be too far off, with the exception of a couple of positions.

“The New Zealand game has gone now. We’ve reviewed it, talked about it and now back out on the field to get things right for Scotland on Saturday.”

England squad: John Bateman, George Burgess, Sam Burgess (capt), Tom Burgess , Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Liam Farrell, Luke Gale, Ryan Hall, Chris Hill, Josh Hodgson, Jonny Lomax, Jermaine McGillvary, Mark Percival, Dan Sarginson, Scott Taylor, Kallum Watkins, Elliot Whitehead, George Williams.

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NEW ZEALAND

The Kiwis have made two changes to the team that beat England last weekend with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Jason Nightingale missing due to injury. They’ve been replaced by Greg Eastwood and Gerald Beale.

New Zealand squad: Jordan Kahu, Gerard Beale, Solomone Kata, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Jordan Rapana, Thomas Leuluai, Shaun Johnson, Jesse Bromwich, Issac Luke, Adam Blair, Kevin Proctor, Tohu Harris, Jason Taumalolo, Lewis Brown, Martin Taupau, Manu Ma’u, Greg Eastwood, Joseph Tapine, David Fusitu’a.

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AUSTRALIA

Johnathan Thurston, Darius Boyd, Greg Inglis, Boyd Cordner, Matt Scott, Matt Gillett, and Valentine Holmes are all back into the Australian team that thrashed Scotland last weekend.

Cooper Cronk has been rested from this weekend’s massive showdown with the Kiwis.

“We know the Kiwis will be a significant challenge for us so it will be great to welcome back some of the players who missed the Scotland game,” Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga said.

Australian squad: Darius Boyd, Shannon Boyd, Boyd Cordner, Blake Ferguson, Jake Friend, Matt Gillett, Valentine Holmes, Greg Inglis, David Klemmer, James Maloney, Trent Merrin, Michael Morgan, Matt Moylan, Justin O’Neill, Matt Scott, Cameron Smith (c), Sam Thaiday, Johnathan Thurston, Aaron Woods.

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SCOTLAND

Brothers Brett and Callum Phillips along with Batley back Dave Scott have been drafted into the Scottish team to play England.

Callum was considered a lock for the opening Four Nations match but was ruled out after sustaining a concussion in a lead-up game.

Scotland squad: Danny Addy, Euan Aitkin, Sam Brooks, Danny Brough, Tyler Cassel, Lachlan Coote, Luke Douglas, Dale Ferguson, Ben Hellewell, Liam Hood, Ben Kavanagh, Kane Linnett, Frankie Mariano, Brett Phillips, Callum Phillips, Matthew Russell, Dave Scott, Lewis Tierney, Adam Walker.

@woodward_curtis