England five-eighth George Williams has been ruled out of next weekend's rugby league Test against Samoa with a knee injury sustained in Wigan's 54-4 Super League defeat at Castleford.
The loss of Williams is another blow to England coach Wayne Bennett after his first-choice No.6 Gareth Widdop was sidelined this week, also with a knee injury.
Williams was due to fly to Sydney on Sunday, along with Wigan teammate and England captain Sean O'Loughlin plus the three-man Castleford contingent, to join the squad ahead of the mid-season international at Campbelltown on Saturday.
But he will now stay behind and undergo scans to determine the extent of his injury.
O'Loughlin aggravated a groin injury in the Super League game, in which Wales international prop Ben Flower sustained a suspected ruptured Achilles tendon, but will be able to catch the flight to Sydney, according to Wigan and England doctor Chris Brooks.
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Williams failed to reappear for the second half of the game at the Men-a-Hose Jungle and Wigan coach Shaun Wane said: "He'll get it scanned tomorrow. I doubt he'll be able to catch the flight, he can't walk."
Brooks explained: "We had to take George Williams off the field because it was clear he was struggling with his knee towards the end of the first half.
"As he tried to run he was okay in terms of getting his speed up, but when he tried to decelerate, that's when he was having the pain in his knee.
Warrington's utility back Stefan Ratchford was called up as a replacement for Widdop.
Wigan also lost centre Anthony Gelling (knee) and forwards Taulima Tautai (neck) and Ryan Sutton (ankle) in their heaviest Super League defeat by the Tigers.
