England: Steve Borthwick suffers another blow as Ollie Lawrence ruled out of Italy clash
England centre Ollie Lawrence in action against Ireland and Red Rose head coach Steve Borthwick (inset).
England have suffered another setback in the build-up to their Round Four Six Nations clash with Italy in Rome on Saturday after star centre Ollie Lawrence was ruled out due to injury.
The 26-year-old is struggling with a knee injury but despite having an injection on the damaged joint last week, he is unlikely to recover in time for the Red Rose’s clash with the Azzurri at the Stadio Olimpico.
Lawrence was sidelined with the same knee injury for England’s two opening Six Nations encounters against Wales and Scotland but recovered and started at outside centre in their 42-21 defeat to Ireland at Allianz Stadium Twickenham on February 21.
The Bath stalwart missed England’s two-day training camp last week and, after consultation with a specialist, has been ruled out of contention and Borthwick left him out of his 36-man squad who are preparing to face Italy.
Tommy Freeman set to switch to outside centre
Lawrence’s absence for the Azzurri clash means that Northampton Saints utility back Tommy Freeman could be back in the number 13 jersey – where he started against Wales and Scotland – after starting on the right wing against Ireland.
Henry Slade of Exeter Chiefs is also an option at outside centre while Gloucester’s Seb Atkinson, who played 50 minutes in the Premiership Cup at the RFU’s request, is also in the selection mix.
However, there is no place in Borthwick‘s squad for another Bath midfielder Max Ojomoh who shone for England during their Autumn Nations Series victory over Argentina last November.
Lawrence’s absence is the latest setback for Borthwick after he also lost the services of experienced Northampton scrum-half Alex Mitchell due to a hamstring injury sustained against Ireland.
“Alex has been scanned and seen the relevant specialists,” said Borthwick. “He’ll be out for a number of weeks, unfortunately, so won’t feature in the remainder of this championship.”
Mitchell’s place in England’s starting line-up against Italy is expected to be taken by Leicester Tigers’ Jack van Poortvliet, who replaced against Ireland, while Sale Sharks’ Raffi Quirke has also been called up to the latest squad.
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England’s Six Nations squad
Forwards: Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers) Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), Jack Kenningham (Harlequins), George Kloska (Bristol Bears), Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
Backs: Henry Arundell (Bath Rugby), Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)
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