League: English captain to miss Four Nations

England captain Addrian Morley has been ruled out of the Four Nations. Photo / Dean Purcell

England captain Adrian Morley has been ruled out of the rugby league Four Nations tournament after suffering a serious arm injury in the their 18-18 draw with the New Zealand Maori at Auckland last night.

The prop ruptured his right bicep in the sixth minute of last night's match, an injury that was confirmed following a scan at hospital in Auckland today.

Morley will fly home to England later this week for an operation.

The prop said he was "devastated" at having lost the opportunity to lead his country against New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea over the next four weeks.

"I'm absolutely gutted and am still coming to terms with it," the Warrington Wolves captain said.

"I've been around long enough to accept that injuries are a part of everyone sportman's life but this one has left me devastated.

"I knew as soon as it happened that it was serious. It was just an accidental bang to my arm but the pain was excruciating."

England coach Steve McNamara said losing Morley so soon after Jamie Peacock had been forced to miss the tour because of a knee injury was a blow.

"It's really tough on Moz (Morley) and on England. Adrian is a fiercely proud Englishman and I know how much captaining his country in the Four Nations meant to him," McNamara said.

"The Four Nations rules allow us to replace an injured player before the tournament starts and we'll make a decision on whether we want to do that in the next 24 hours."

England play in the opening match of the tournament, against New Zealand at Wellington on Saturday.

- NZPA