ENGLAND captain Sean O’Loughlin is urging his teammates to use the Test series with New Zealand to prove they are a force on the world stage.

The Wigan loose forward guided his team to their first World Cup final for a quarter of a century last December and, although they were beaten 6-0 by Australia in the Brisbane decider O’Loughlin missed through injury, the skipper says their performances throughout the tournament restored pride in the jersey.

The Kiwi’s visit will provide an opportunity to show those performances down under were no fluke as England play tier-one opponents on home soil for the first time since their disappointing campaign in the 2016 Four Nations Series.

“We didn’t quite get over the line at the World Cup, which was disappointing, but we felt it was successful,” O’Loughlin said. “There was a lot of pride for the national side.

“This is the first time we’ve been on our own patch for a couple of years and it’s a good opportunity for the fans to come out and see us play in what should be some real class games in some class stadiums.”

O’Loughlin, rested for last week’s one-off international against France, is one of seven Grand Finalists brought into head coach Wayne Bennett’s 19-man squad for Saturday’s first Test at Hull’s KCOM Stadium and one of 11 survivors from the World Cup.

There is also a smattering of new faces, mostly forced on Bennett through injury, but also dictated by form.

O’Loughlin’s Wigan teammate Oliver Gildart is hoping to make his senior England debut while Jake Connor and Tommy Makinson are set to build on the promising start to their Test careers.

South Sydney prop Tom Burgess played alongside the new faces when England beat New Zealand 36-18 in Colorado in June and believes they fully justified their places in the team.

“I was really impressed with Jake Connor in Denver,” said the former Bradford forward. “I think he’s a great talent and a future England regular, along with Tommy Makinson.”

Meanwhile, Burgess, who will win his 23rd cap on Saturday, says Super League needs to reduce the number of domestic fixtures to give England a better chance of reaching the top at international level.

“The scheduling over here is something that we need to look at, if I’m honest,” said Burgess, who has spent the last six years in Australia’s National Rugby League with brothers George and Sam.

“There are too many games in the English league, it needs to come down to what we play in Australia I think.

“It would make it a lot easier for us because you can see how many injuries there are. I think it’s 11 from the World Cup that are missing.

“We need to look at that first and hopefully they can start adding some more international fixtures.”