England have added Josh Beaumont to their training squad as they wait for Courtney Lawes to have a scan following the recurrence of a knee injury.
Beaumont, who plays lock and No8 for Sale, is the son of former England captain Bill Beaumont. The 23-year-old will travel to the Algarve along with Lawes on Sunday night for a week-long training camp.
England’s opening autumn international is against South Africa at Twickenham on 12 November. Lawes, who has won 49 caps, was in line to start against the Springboks with George Kruis and Maro Itoje ruled out of all four autumn Tests, but his director of rugby at Northampton, Jim Mallinder, said the lock may not have recovered in time.
Lawes sustained the injury in training this month and missed the European Champions Cup match against Montpellier. He returned the following week in Castres but when he reported for training two days after the match, his knee had swollen and he missed the victory against Gloucester on Friday night.
“We thought the knee had improved but Courtney suffered a reaction in training and will need a scan to determine the extent of the injury,” Mallinder said. “I am not sure if he will be ready by the start of the autumn Tests, but fingers crossed there is not too much damage.”
