England face the prospect of entering their clash against Scotland without Owen Farrell after concerns over his fitness escalated on the eve of the Twickenham showdown.
Farrell was unable to take part in the captain’s run on Friday due to the unspecified leg injury sustained in training 24 hours earlier and he now faces a race against time to prove he can take part.
“Owen didn’t train today (Friday) and we’re monitoring his leg injury. It’s a leg injury,” defence coach Paul Gustard said.
“We have until tomorrow before kick-off to make a decision, which means he has at least another 24 hours of recovery ahead of him.”
England have opted against calling in another player. The most probable contingency if Farrell is forced to withdraw would see Ben Te’o promoted from the bench to fill the void and Jonny May, who is currently acting as 24th man, stepping on to the interchange bench.
England will give Farrell, who has emerged as their most important player under Jones, every opportunity to demonstrate his fitness for a match that could deliver a record-equalling 18th successive Test victory.
Only New Zealand have previously amassed that number of wins, setting the milestone last year.
England are the Six Nations’ solitary unbeaten team, keeping them on course for a successful defence of the Grand Slam, yet they have not played to their potential so far in the tournament.
“We’ve done a lot of good stuff. In the last two weeks, not to sound too much like a broken record, but we’ve focused on ourselves a lot,” Gustard said. “We’re looking to improve.
“The boys are a in a good place, they’re happy and excited to play for their country. Everyone is looking forward to playing Scotland.
“Scotland have got some good players, but then every team does.”
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Then you either haven't made (or recieved) enough tackles or you're not being honest. You should know what it is to have someone open up so that you can wipe them out and put them on their arse, make a statement. As Farrell put it after a French tackle, have you dry retching. And you should know the difference between that and either actually wanting to hurt someone permanently - or just get so carried away with the emotion of the moment, you're not thinking straight. I'll be generous. It's a few minutes in and the pep talk is still in his ears. He's not thinking straight. Either way, he's making his point in a way that should earn him a red and puts someone's whole future life at risk - as well as his own. I love this is a contact sport. It's at the heart of why I love it. I don't love this type of confrontation. To me, it's fundamentally cowardly.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Na, soft call. Games gone soft if that's a yellow, bar it being slightly late but even then he was fully committed. That was a textbook tackle around the midriff and to expect the tackler to then take due care in correcting the already committed momentum is ridiculous. That he went through horizontal was merely the unavoidable result of good technique.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Lands him so the top of his shoulders and head pretty much hit the deck at the same time as he dumps him. Just because Brown protests he puts Daly on his back (what do you expect him to say?) doesn't make it so. His left arm is wilfully pulling Daly through the horizontal. Very, very lucky not to see red for that and even luckier not to have something a lot more serious on his conscience.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Farrells playing but don't agree with the yellow. A copybook tackle, albeit committed after the ball was passed, which ends up with the guy on his back. It's going to start confusing players when you can't even tackle perfectly anymore.