England's worst fears were confirmed last night when Tom Rees and David Strettle joined Mike Tindall in being ruled out of the remainder of the Six Nations Championship. Rees has partially torn the medial ligament in his left knee and will be sidelined for two months while Strettle has broken the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot for the second time in six months.
With Tindall still under observation in Hammersmith Hospital after sustaining a bruised liver at Twickenham last Saturday, England's head coach, Brian Ashton, could do without any further casualties during Sunday's encounter with Italy. Strettle is expected to be out for a minimum of four weeks but will be aware that reclaiming his left-wing berth from Lesley Vainikolo is not a foregone conclusion.
The Tongan-born Vainikolo, having made his debut as a replacement last weekend, is now poised to start his first union Test while Ashton has also been forced into changes in the back-row and in midfield. With Nick Easter available again after missing the Welsh defeat with a knee injury, the Harlequins No8 is set to reclaim his place at the base of the scrum from Gloucester's Luke Narraway, who made his England debut last weekend.
There is no chance of James Haskell, England's best player against the Welsh, being ousted from the No6 shirt which leaves one vacancy on the open-side flank in the absence of Lewis Moody, who suffered an achilles injury last Saturday, and Rees. Although Sale's Magnus Lund had been added to the squad as cover, the next specialist cab off the rank is Bath's Michael Lipman who is in line to win his fourth cap in Rome.
The 28-year-old, born in London but reared in Australia, has not played for England since June 2006 and is another player to have suffered rather more than his fair share of injury heartache. His form for Bath this season has been outstanding, however, and his director of rugby, Steve Meehan, remains convinced he should have featured in Ashton's original squad. As for Tindall's No13 jersey, it would appear to be a straight choice between the two Newcastle team-mates Jamie Noon and Mathew Tait.
The various enforced changes elsewhere may also help Iain Balshaw's chances of being retained at full-back, regardless of events last Saturday, ahead of Danny Cipriani. Far-sighted selectorial judgment, rather than endless chopping and changing, is a tricky business but Ashton is facing some increasingly tricky calls.
Talented gamebreakers such as Leicester's flanker Tom Croft and London Irish's Shane Geraghty, who was also added to the squad on Monday, cannot be ignored indefinitely. Geraghty was outstanding when he moved from inside-centre to fly-half for England Saxons in their defeat of Ireland A last Friday. On the other hand, the youngsters' time will come sooner rather than later if the current attrition rate in the England squad continues.
Even the players are starting to wonder if the string of injuries is a total coincidence. "Week in, week out, the games are incredibly tough," confirmed England's giant second-row Simon Shaw. "I'd be lying if I didn't say that throughout the season you didn't play 90% of your games with some sort of injury. Players want to play every week, they want to represent their club and their country, and you can't really fault them for that."
Italy's assistant coach, Carlo Orlandi, nevertheless, is expecting a revitalised England this weekend following their Welsh disappointment. "The English will be wounded and will want to make up for it," said Orlandi. "We're expecting a strong reaction on their part."
Robert Kitson's probable line-up Iain Balshaw, Paul Sackey, Jamie Noon, Toby Flood, Lesley Vainikolo, Jonny Wilkinson, Andy Gomarsall; Andrew Sheridan, Mark Regan, Phil Vickery, Simon Shaw, Steve Borthwick, James Haskell, Michael Lipman, Nick Easter.
10.15am update England have now named their team for Sunday. As expected, Jonny Wilkinson retains his place at fly-half, and Jamie Noon, Lesley Vainikolo, Michael Lipman and Nick Easter replace Mike Tindall, David Strettle, Lewis Moody and Luke Narraway respectively.
The big news, though, is that Andrew Sheridan has become England's latest injury casualty. Sheridan is replaced at prop by Wasps' Tim Payne, who wins his sixth cap. The nature of Sheridan's injury is as yet unknown.
England team to play Italy I Balshaw (Gloucester); P Sackey (Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), T Flood (Newcastle), L Vainikolo (Gloucester); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), A Gomarsall (Harlequins); T Payne (Wasps), M Regan (Bristol), P Vickery (Wasps, capt), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Bath), J Haskell (Wasps), M Lipman (Bath), N Easter (Harlequins). Replacements L Mears (Bath), M Stevens (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), L Narraway (Gloucester), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), D Cipriani (Wasps), M Tait (Newcastle).
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10.45am update Elsewhere, Scotland have named their team to play Wales on Saturday, and, unsurprisingly, Chris Paterson has been recalled to the XV. Coming in for the injured Rory Lamont at full-back, Paterson will make his 83rd appearance for Scotland, becoming their most-capped back.
Scotland team to play Wales C Paterson (Gloucester); N Walker (Ospreys), N De Luca (Edinburgh), A Henderson (Glasgow Warriors), S Webster (Edinburgh); D Parks (Glasgow Warriors), M Blair (Edinburgh); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton Saints), N Hines (Perpignan), J Hamilton (Leicester Tigers), J White (Sale Sharks, captain), J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), K Brown (Glasgow Warriors). Replacements F Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), G Kerr (Edinburgh), S MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), A Hogg (Edinburgh), C Cusiter (Perpignan), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), H Southwell (Edinburgh).
