England will be without their two leading loosehead props for at least the first two rounds of the Six Nations with Joe Marler ruled out of action for up to five weeks after fracturing his left leg and Mako Vunipola not expected to return from a knee injury until the end of next month.
The pair have been in England’s match-day 23 in nine of the 13 Tests under Eddie Jones. Marler pulled out of the Australia tour last summer when Matt Mullan backed up Vunipola from the bench, while Mullan started the Twickenham friendly against Wales in May with Ellis Genge, who was left out of the current squad, among the replacements.
Saracens have not put a date on Vunipola’s return and said the prop will see a specialist this week for an examination on the knee he injured against Sale last month, but the club did not expect him to be back in action until the end of February at the earliest.
Marler was originally thought to have suffered a calf strain after pulling out of Harlequins’ match against Sale on Saturday before the kick-off but a scan revealed a fracture. The club said his rehabilitation would take between four and five weeks, ruling him out of England’s opening two fixtures in defence of their Six Nations title, at home to France and away to Wales.
Mullan and Bath’s Nathan Catt are the two fit looseheads in the squad, with Genge, who reacted to being dropped with outstanding displays for Leicester in their narrow defeats against Saracens and Wasps, expected to be recalled.
Jones has a number of concerns at forward, with the second-row George Kruis unlikely to recover from a fractured cheekbone to play for Saracens against Toulon on Saturday week, while the flanker James Haskell, whose first appearance of the season last Sunday following a toe operation ended after 35 seconds when he was knocked out making a tackle, has been ruled out of Wasps’ European Champions Cup match against Toulouse on Saturday.
Haskell is expected to play against Zebre the following weekend but will not be match-hardened by the start of the Six Nations. Jones already has to replace two of his first-choice back row, with Chris Robshaw and Billy Vunipola out for the whole tournament with injuries.
In addition, the England captain, Dylan Hartley, who has made seven starts this season for his club, Northampton, and his country and spent less than seven hours on the pitch, returns from suspension after the end of the Champions Cup group stage. Unless he were released to the Saints for the Anglo-Welsh Cup match against Leicester on 28 January, he would go into the Twickenham opener against France with six minutes’ game-time in two months.
Better news for Jones is that the second-row Joe Launchbury is in line to return from a calf strain for Wasps on Saturday, while the club’s centre Elliot Daly, who suffered a head injury against Leicester last Sunday, is also set to be available for selection.
One back rower Jones has not been able to consider because of the rule governing players who are based outside England is Sam Underhill, who has spent the past two seasons at Ospreys. That will change in the summer as the Welsh region has agreed a transfer with Bath for the 20-year old, who had one season remaining on his contract.
The Leicester outside-half Owen Williams is joining Gloucester next season. The 24-year old has spent four years at Welford Road after joining from the Scarlets, but the Tigers have been heavily linked with Bath’s unsettled England fly-half, George Ford.
