Hull KR's Peter Fox and Warrington's Ben Westwood are the surprise inclusions in Tony Smith's 19 man England squad to face France on Friday.

Winger Fox, 23, takes the place of Gareth Raynor, who was ruled out through injury. Fox moved to Craven Park at the end of last season having spent 2007 at Wakefield, after being rescued from National League obscurity by John Kear.

Warrington back rower Ben Westwood is another interesting addition to the squad, although he has been capped by England before, appearing in the 2006 Federation Shield, whilst he was a non-playing member of the Great Britain squad last season.

Young Castleford starlet Joe Westerman, 18, has also been included.

"I have picked a strong squad which is based on current form but also one which includes a few new faces from the squad which beat the Kiwis last autumn," said Smith.

"The trip to France will give us good experience ahead of the World Cup. I won't just be looking at how they perform on the pitch this week but also how they interact with each other in camp.

"This is their opportunity to impress and, providing they maintain their form over the remainder of the season, potentially book their flights to Australia for the World Cup.

"Peter and Joe have both had good seasons with their clubs and are included in the squad on merit.

"I expect the game against France to be a tough one especially in the forwards. Catalans Dragons' success this year has been built on a strong pack and the majority of those players will be turning out for France this Friday."

Jamie Peacock was last week named as the captain of England, who also launched a new website at www.englandrl.com.

England squad: Sam Burgess (Bradford), Rob Burrow (Leeds), Gareth Ellis (Leeds), Marie Fa'asavalu (St Helens), Peter Fox (Hull KR), Ade Gardner (St Helens), Martin Gleeson (Warrington), James Graham (St Helens), Danny McGuire (Leeds), Adrian Morley (Warrington), Jamie Peacock (Leeds), Leon Pryce (St Helens), James Roby (St Helens), Keith Senior (Leeds), Kevin Sinfield (Leeds), Paul Wellens (St Helens), Joe Westerman (Castleford), Ben Westwood (Warrington), Jon Wilkin (St Helens)