| Six Nations Championship: Scotland v England |
|---|
| Venue: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Date: Saturday, 8 February Kick-off: 16:45 GMT |
| Coverage: Watch on BBC One; listen BBC Radio 5 Live & BBC Radio Scotland; live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app |
England winger Anthony Watson has suffered a setback in his recovery from a calf injury and will miss Saturday’s match with Scotland in the Six Nations.
The Bath back trained on Tuesday but suffered a recurrence of the problem and sat out Wednesday’s session.
England forwards coach Matt Proudfoot confirmed Watson has been ruled out of the Calcutta Cup match at Murrayfield.
“We’ll give him the opportunity to get over it 100% before we give him the go,” Proudfoot told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“He won’t be available for the weekend.”
Lions winger Watson missed England’s 24-17 defeat by France on the opening weekend with the same injury.
Northampton full-back George Furbank made his debut in Paris with Elliot Daly switching to the wing and Jonny May completing the back three.
“We were very happy with how they went,” added Proudfoot when asked about the trio’s performance against France.
“Anthony is a world-class player so you do miss it, but I thought the back three played well, we controlled the air pretty well, but we didn’t give them enough platform up front to be able to attack with.”
Uncapped Ollie Thorley of Gloucester is the other specialist wing in England’s squad.
Head coach Eddie Jones has to change his backline from the one that started against France, with another Lions back Manu Tuilagi ruled out of the trip to Edinburgh with a groin strain.
While England need to make at least one change in the midfield, the deployment of Tom Curry, a flanker, as number eight seems likely to continue.
Curry struggled at points in Paris to replicate Vunipola’s heavy-duty ball-carrying and control at the base of the scrum.
Proudfoot admits it is a difficult transition for Curry, but, comparing him to Springbok back row Francois Louw, says he has the ability to switch between positions successfully.
“I have to coach him better, prepare him better. He is an unbelievable player, great, strong personality and physically unbelievable.
“It’s crazy to think of the heights he can reach as a player. So we need to up-skill him and I need to prepare him better at the base of the scrum.”
