England sweat on Borthwick

Stand-in England captain Steve Borthwick has been added to the mounting injury list ahead of the trip to France.

Stand-in England captain Steve Borthwick has been added to the mounting injury list ahead of the trip to France.

The Bath lock, who was handed the captaincy for the 23-19 win over Italy after the late withdrawal of Phil Vickery, is struggling with a knee injury suffered in the Rome.

Borthwick has had a test on his knee this week and remains a doubt for Bath's clash with Wasps on Saturday.

“Steve is a doubt for Saturday,” Bath coach Steve Meehan told The Guardian.

“I will not play him against Wasps unless he is 100 per cent fit and am sure he would be able to last the whole match.

“He took a knock against Italy and had a scan on his return. He is going through things with the medical team and the physiotherapists and we should know more later in the week.

“Steve is experienced and honest enough to say if he is not right. I do not believe in playing someone if he is carrying an injury, never mind that Saturday is an important game for us.”

England's Six Nations challenge has been dogged by injury, with Mike Tindall, David Strettle, Tom Rees, Andrew Sheridan and Lewis Moody among those missing matches through injury.