England wing Cadan Murley will miss the Six Nations clash with France with Steve Borthwick considering changes to the side beaten in Dublin.
Murley made a try-scoring debut against Ireland but sustained a foot injury that will rule him out of Saturday’s round two fixture. It is understood that he could return for the tail-end of the tournament with further scans on the issue planned.
Saracens centre Alex Lozowski, who was part of Borthwick’s squad in the autumn without making an appearance, has been called up to the squad ahead of a crunch clash at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
England have lost seven of their last nine games, beating only Japan in that time, and were thumped 53-10 by France the last time they hosted their cross-Channel rivals.
Head coach Borthwick will be considering the balance of his back row, backline and bench as he looks to address familiar flaws that surfaced again in Ireland.
Jamie George, replaced as captain by Maro Itoje, has returned ahead of schedule and could bolster the squad on Saturday afternoon, with the 97-cap hooker adding much needed experience.
Having fielded a short, scavenging back row at the Aviva Stadium with the Curry twins joined by Ben Earl, Borthwick may well add extra size to the unit against a tall and physical French pack.
Ollie Chessum appeared off the bench and will come into consideration at blindside flanker.
“I think that back row worked really hard and had a big impact on the game,” Borthwick said after the defeat to Ireland. “Defensively, they were all excellent. That Ireland team is so well drilled in their attack, so you often have very few opportunities to turn the ball over at the breakdown, but I thought they challenged Ireland in that regard and did a great job there. Their collision dominance was really good and if you watched them off the ball, they covered a lot of ground.
“I’ll look at what we need next week against France. This group of players is building and is going to be a very, very good team. I trust this group of players. You can see just how hard they are working for each other and I thought that was a step forward today. Look at how hard they ran and the effort – I can see a team starting to develop amongst this group.”
With Murley out, Ollie Sleightholme, Tom Roebuck and perhaps Elliot Daly will be considered as options on the wing.
There may also be a thought for a more radical reshaping against a French side that tend to kick long, offering fewer contestable situations and some chances on the counter-attack. That could see Borthwick contemplate selecting Marcus Smith to full-back, a strategy used successfully during the 2023 World Cup.
“I think Marcus is a 10 who can play 15,” the head coach said at his squad unveiling last month. “I think he sees that the same way. I know his preferred position is 10.
“I also see a player who is incredibly dangerous in space. And I've started him at 15 in England shirt, but most recently started him at 10 and then moved to 15 later in games. Having that versatility is really important.”
France, meanwhile, are expected to select Matthieu Jalibert at fly half if Romain Ntamack is, as expected, suspended after his sending off against Wales.
Ntamack faces a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday morning after being shown a red card for his high tackle on Ben Thomas, with Jalibert his likely replacement despite a reported falling out with coach Fabien Galthie during the Autumn Nations Series.
Wing Damian Penaud did not take part in training on Monday but is expected to be fit to return at two-try Theo Attissogbe’s expense.
