Fin Smith is a major doubt for England’s clash with Ireland on Saturday with Marcus Smith ready to step into the breach for the penultimate round of the Guinness Six Nations.
Fin Smith was the solitary member of Steve Borthwick’s squad to miss training on Tuesday as he recovers from a calf injury and with only Thursday’s main session left before the Twickenham showdown, time is running out to prove his fitness.
The 21-year-old fly-half has won his first two caps in his breakthrough season for England, coming on as a replacement for George Ford against Italy and Scotland, but could now slip out of the 23.
“We have tried to look after him the last couple of days and we are hoping he will be in full training on Thursday. We are looking after him,” skills and kicking coach Kevin Sinfield said.
If Fin Smith is unable to convince Borthwick on Thursday that he is capable of facing Grand Slam-chasing Ireland, Marcus Smith is available to take his place on the bench.
The Harlequins player missed the first three rounds of the tournament, also because of calf damage, but could even challenge Ford for a place in the starting XV if Borthwick decides significant changes are needed in response to the 30-21 mauling by Scotland.
“Fly-half is a position where we have plenty of strength so Steve will make that call on Thursday after the session. If everyone comes through on Thursday, Steve has obviously got a headache,” Sinfield said.
“To have Marcus available having not had him available throughout the Six Nations is a big boost for everybody.
“Not only with what he brings on the field, but off the field as well. He has got some bounce about him, a big smile and he loves being out on the training field. He has had a big impact this week.
“He comes in and is himself all the time so we missed him in those first few weeks. I’ve loved working with him and he’s an incredible talent. He can play, that boy.”
Borthwick names his team on Thursday afternoon and England’s head coach will be hoping for a response after the backwards step taken at Murrayfield.
The most damning statistic to emerge from a fourth successive Calcutta Cup defeat was the 25 handling errors made, a staggering number that prevented their attack from functioning.
“That was an anomaly for us. We certainly haven’t seen that throughout training at all,” Sinfield said.
“We’ve worked particularly hard in trying to understand why it happened. Some of it is difficult to understand.
“When you’re trying to understand why someone’s dropped a ball, or someone’s thrown a pass without looking where the pass is going, there’s a bit more to it than the numbers.
“We’re trying to understand the people, what they are feeling and what they are seeing at that moment in time. So we’ve delved pretty deep into that.
“We put some balls down in the Scotland game, why that is we’ll never know for sure. But what we have to try to make sure is that it doesn’t happen again.”
'World-class' Scotland will provide Wallabies' sternest test – Skelton
Australia will face their sternest test to date when they continue their autumn tour against a "world-class" Scotland team at Murrayfield on Sunday.
That is the view of forward Will Skelton, who believes the Wallabies' victories in England and Wales have brought a new energy and confidence to their camp.
Having crashed out in the pool stage at last year's World Cup in France before finishing last in the Rugby Championship, Australia have looked a team reborn in recent weeks.
A first victory at Twickenham since 2015 and a 52-20 rout of Wales – their biggest-ever away win in matches between the teams – have made it an excellent tour to date for Joe Schmidt's side.
But La Rochelle lock Skelton feels their toughest assignment is to come this week, saying: "We've won two games, we're very aware of that.
"The Test against Scotland is going to be the hardest one yet. We're excited about this weekend and we're looking forward to ripping into it.
"Physically they're up there with the top five in the world. I think set-piece wise they're really strong.
"You've got a guy like Finn Russell who's a maestro at the back there. I think it's going be a close one and we'll be up for it.
"There's some class players in the Scottish team and, when they're at it they're world-class, so we're going to have to be on top of our game."
Wales must 'show courage and front up' against South Africa, says Gatland
Warren Gatland has urged Wales to "show real courage and front up" in their final Autumn Nations clash against South Africa.
Gatland's side bring the curtain down on a disappointing year when they welcome the reigning world champions to the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Wales have lost an unprecedented 11 straight Tests, and could go an entire calendar year without tasting success for the first time since 1937.
Gatland has made four changes from last weekend's 52-20 defeat to Australia, with Sam Costelow, Rio Dyer, Christ Tshiunza and Taine Plumtree all coming into the starting XV.
Gareth Anscombe, Aaron Wainwright and Cameron Winnett drop out of the squad, while Adam Beard misses out through injury.
And Gatland wants his players to demonstrate fighting spirit against the Springboks.
"Last week's result hurts, and we are just as disappointed by it as the fans," he told reporters during his pre-match press conference.
"Our focus now is on training and preparing well for our final game of this Autumn Nations Series.
"There were good elements that we can definitely build on going into Saturday, but we have to improve our accuracy.
"We know what a quality side South Africa are and the physicality they bring. This week, we need to show real courage and front up against the world champions."
'Playing for England is the Mecca' according to Itoje amid global breakaway talk
Maro Itoje has reaffirmed his commitment to England amid talks of a proposed global breakaway league.
Steve Borthwick’s side are looking to end their five-match losing run when they face Japan in their final match of the autumn series on Sunday.
But there is fear that Borthwick could lose many of his players to the new league that reportedly are offering 40 £1m-a-season contracts for marquee players and more periods of rests for the players.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) only select players for the national team from English clubs, meaning any player joining the breakaway league would jeopardise their Test career.
But Itoje has insisted that playing for England is the pinnacle for him and his teammates.
"I don't really know any of the details of it as yet, but wearing this rose is extremely important to me and my teammates," said Itoje.
"Playing for England is the Mecca."
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