England have suffered an injury setback ahead of Saturday’s Six Nations trip to Cardiff with the luckless Tom Curry ruled out due to a leg problem.
Sale flanker Curry only returned to the England squad on Sunday, having beaten a hamstring problem that kept him out of the first two Six Nations rounds.
The 24-year-old back-rower has now suffered a new injury straight away in training, and both England and Sale must wait for further assessment to determine how long he will be sidelined.
Curry’s twin brother Ben has returned to the squad in his stead, while Courtney Lawes has been retained in England’s 26-man squad for Saturday’s Cardiff trip.
The fit-again Lawes will now be primed to feature against Wales, having shaken off gluteal and calf problems that followed a lengthy head-injury absence.
Defence coach Kevin Sinfield admitted losing Curry will prove a blow for Saturday, but welcomed Lawes’ return.
“Tom’s been really good for us; he’s a seasoned international now, he’s got a lot of caps under his belt so he’s a miss.
“He’s one of the guys I met in early January. I had a good sit-down with him up North, which was good.
“It’s great to have Courtney back. You guys know what we think about him. That leadership trio with him Ellis and Owen is really, really important.
“Courtney has been around working with us for a couple of weeks now doing his bits behind the scenes but to have him back in training has been great.
“All things being well, he should be there at the weekend.
“Aside from his playing ability, he gets more out of the players around him.
“There aren’t that many players in world rugby who have that influence across the team. He’s certainly got it. He’s got a real presence – he’s physical, he’s tough and he’s very, very mobile for a big man too.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with him this week.”
England have released 10 players ahead of Saturday’s Cardiff trip, with front-rowers Tom Dunn, Bevan Rodd and Will Stuart heading back to their clubs.
Back-rowers Ben Earl and Sam Simmonds have gone too, while behind the scrum Ben Youngs, George Ford, Tommy Freeman and Fraser Dingwall have been released.
ENGLAND SQUAD TO FACE WALES: FORWARDS: O Chessum, D Cole, B Curry, A Dombrandt, E Genge, J George, N Isiekwe, M Itoje, C Lawes, L Ludlam, K Sinckler, M Vunipola, J Walker, J Willis. BACKS: H Arundell, O Farrell, O Lawrence, M Malins, J Marchant, A Mitchell, C Murley, H Slade, M Smith, F Steward, J Van Poortvliet, A Watson.
