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England captain Owen Farrell is a doubt for the Six Nations after suffering a fresh injury in training with Saracens.
The versatile back, who has not played a minute of rugby since sustaining an ankle injury on international duty in November, was controversially named in Eddie Jones’ 36-man squad earlier this week.
The 30-year-old had made a full return to training, but after suffering a fresh unspecified setback, Farrell will now see a specialist early next week to determine the extent.
It has been 10 years since Farrell made his Six Nations debut for England and during that time the inside-centre has won three championships, one of those a Grand Slam success in 2016.
However, despite his experience and importance in previous Tests, many have disagreed with Jones’ stubbornness in selecting Farrell.
30 – Owen Farrell has featured in each of @EnglandRugby's 30 Six Nations matches under Eddie Jones; he's the only player from any nation not to miss a single match in the Championship since the beginning of 2016. Doubt. pic.twitter.com/Jdoa9d1Ukt
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) January 21, 2022
Many believe there is inconsistency with Jones’ inclusions with the regular trio of Sam Underhill, Elliot Daly and Manu Tuilagi missing out due to a lack of fitness after recently recovering from injuries.
Eyebrows were also raised towards the omission of George Ford from the original squad. However, with Farrell now a doubt and the squad to be revised on Monday, the Leicester Tigers fly-half could earn a welcomed re-call.
Ford, who featured in the last Six Nations, leads the way for the most points scored [148] in the Premiership this season which has led to the number 10 being named the October and December Player of the Month.
As a result, Harlequins starlet Marcus Smith, who has been named in the original 36-man squad, has had his chances of starting his first Six Nations bolstered.
With Jones’ loyalties to Farrell, it is likely the Saracens figure would have featured at inside-centre with Smith at fly-half. However, wearing the number 12 shirt is nothing new for the captain who started four of the five matches in the last Six Nations in the role outside Ford.
The England squad has a range of quality and experience with numerous milestones set to be reached. Ben Youngs, who made his debut in 2010, is two caps away from becoming England men’s most-capped player whilst Kyle Sinckler is one cap away from 50.
Despite the experience, six uncapped players have been included in the squad. Orlando Bailey [Bath], Alfie Barbeary [Wasps], Ollie Chessum [Leicester Tigers], Tommy Freeman [Northampton Saints], Ollie Hassell-Collins [London Irish] and Luke Northmore [Harlequins] could all be set to make their debuts for England.
20-year-old Raffi Quirke, who scored on his first England try against Australia at Twickenham in November, has also been called up.
The Sale Sharks scrum-half has burst on the scene in the Premiership this season, scoring four tries in the competition and is certainly one to watch out for in the future.
Jones will be hoping his side will significantly improve on their showing in the Six Nations last time out. The Red Roses only finished ahead of Italy after losing three of their five matches.
It was a tournament of unwanted records for England. It was the first time since 1976 they had lost to all three Home Nations in the same campaign, only a second time they had finished fifth and their worst ever total number of points conceded [121] since the Six Nations began in 2000.
Scotland defeated England 11-6 at Twickenham to lift the Calcutta Cup in the opening round last campaign and in two weeks the Red Roses will travel to Edinburgh with hopes of denying the Scots back-to-back wins over England in the competition since 1984.
The named squad will join together in Brighton on Monday for a five-day training camp before regrouping at Pennyhill Park to continue preparations.
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