England’s midfield choices for his or her Guinness Six Nations opener towards Italy are dwindling after Ollie Lawrence and Oscar Beard withdrew from Steve Borthwick’s squad due to harm.
Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie has additionally been changed in a triple setback because the squad departed for his or her pre-Championship coaching camp in Girona.
Beard suffered concussion in Harlequins’ European victory over Ulster on Saturday whereas Cowan-Dickie was changed early within the second half of Sale’s defeat by La Rochelle a day later due to an undisclosed medical situation.
Ollie Lawrence completed Bath’s loss at Toulouse on Sunday however there are not any particulars of his harm.
Bath’s Max Ojomoh and Will Muir have been referred to as into England’s 36-man Six Nations squad to plug the gaps in midfield, whereas Jamie Blamire of Newcastle replaces Cowan-Dickie.
If he’s definitively dominated out towards Italy on Saturday week, Lawrence will probably be a big loss given he was anticipated to kind a centre partnership with Henry Slade on the Stadio Olimpico.
Lawrence has been a drive for Bath this season and, crucially, is ready to swap from his most popular place at 13 to 12 the place England are in need of credible choices.
Slade has stuffed inside centre previously however is a greater match at outdoors, leaving the uncapped Fraser Dingwall in pole place to safe the quantity 12 jersey.
Beard will nonetheless journey to Girona as he completes the return to play protocols for concussion however Cowan-Dickie will stay at house to see a specialist.
England’s midfield issues are exacerbated by Owen Farrell’s choice to overlook the complete Six Nations to prioritise his psychological well being, and the groin harm that has sidelined Manu Tuilagi for a month.
Both can play inside centre however solely Tuilagi has any probability of being concerned within the Championship.
“Manu will be fit, hopefully in the early part, so hopefully he’ll play a major part in the middle to latter part of the tournament,” mentioned Borthwick ultimately Wednesday’s squad announcement.
Borthwick charges Ojomoh extremely however sees the 23-year-old as an possibility for the long run given his inexperience, with Bath seeing Cameron Redpath as their most popular inside centre.
“Max is a really good player with huge amounts of potential. He will be in and around the England squad if he keeps the trajectory he is on. Unfortunately Bath are playing the Scottish centre at 12 too often,” Borthwick mentioned.
Borthwick has informed his gamers that beginning on Thursday they may face gruelling follow classes at their Girona base, however their workload will probably be offset by loads of down time.
“Make no bones about it, we are going to train exceptionally hard because we are preparing to compete with the best teams in the world,” he mentioned.
“But off the field you need to be able to relax, recover and enjoy each other’s company.
“A trait I really want in the players is that when we are on, the intensity, focus, concentration and intent is at as high a level as you can possibly achieve.
“If I want to keep increasing that level, the players have got to relax in between those moments. They’ve got to recover so that we can get the next peak. Girona offers us that.”
Source: www.impartial.co.uk