Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has been ruled out of England’s forthcoming pursuit of the triple crown and is a major doubt for the rest of the Six Nations, while Steve Borthwick has welcomed Ollie Lawrence and Fin Smith back into contention as his side prepare for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield.
Key points
- Immanuel Feyi-Waboso ruled out for “a number of weeks” with hamstring injury sustained in training
- Exeter wing a major doubt for rest of Six Nations after missing Wales victory
- Ollie Lawrence and Fin Smith return to 36-man squad after recovering from knee and calf injuries
- George Kloska receives first senior call-up to cover Vilikesa Sela
- George Furbank also sidelined with head injury
Feyi-Waboso pulled out of the 48-7 victory against Wales 24 hours before kick-off after sustaining a hamstring injury in training and was replaced by Tom Roebuck. The Exeter winger will be out for “a number of weeks”, ensuring he misses the trip to Edinburgh and the visit of Ireland to Twickenham a week later. He has not yet been ruled out of England’s entire campaign but the chances of him appearing seem remote.
“Manny looks like he will be out for a number of weeks,” Borthwick said. “We’ve got to get specialist opinion before I know exactly how many weeks, but it’s a number rather than a single week, which is disappointing. But that’s unfortunately the nature of elite sport — there are injuries and then you have to adapt.”
It is a significant blow for the 23-year-old Feyi-Waboso, who missed the entirety of last year’s Six Nations campaign due to a shoulder injury. Having started all four of England’s autumn internationals and established himself as a key figure on the right wing, he now faces another extended spell on the sidelines.
Roebuck, who had been a fitness doubt himself after breaking his toe in November, stepped in admirably against Wales and scored England’s fifth try. With Henry Arundell bagging a hat-trick on his first start since the 2023 World Cup and Tommy Freeman extending his scoring streak to seven consecutive Six Nations matches, Borthwick has options out wide despite Feyi-Waboso’s absence.
The return of Lawrence provides a significant boost to England’s midfield options. The Bath centre looked sharp in training at the end of last week and could press for involvement against Scotland, potentially freeing up Freeman to move from outside centre to the wing.
“Ollie Lawrence looked really good training-wise at the end of last week, and Fin Smith was in full training last week and trained very well. He looked in great condition,” Borthwick said.
Fin Smith’s return from a calf injury that ruled him out of the original Six Nations squad adds depth at fly-half behind George Ford, who was named man of the match against Wales for his masterful orchestration of England’s attack.
George Kloska, the Bristol Bears tighthead prop, has received his first senior call-up to cover Vilikesa Sela, the Bath 20-year-old who suffered a concussion. George Furbank, the Northampton full-back, is also in rehabilitation after sustaining a head injury in training and must pass return-to-play protocols if he is to feature later in the championship.
Borthwick also provided an update on Ellis Genge, who was replaced by Bevan Rodd at half-time against Wales. The Bristol loosehead was deemed fit to start but was always only going to play 40 minutes amid suggestions he was carrying a hamstring niggle.
“He did really well to be fit to start and play. We thought the right thing to do was to play him 40 minutes and take him off then, as opposed to going and restarting the second half. But he came off absolutely fine. It was more of a precautionary change than anything else,” Borthwick explained.
Looking ahead to Edinburgh
England head to Murrayfield in confident mood after chalking up 12 successive wins, including a dramatic 16-15 victory at Allianz Stadium last year to regain the Calcutta Cup. However, they have won in Edinburgh only once since 2016, a 13-6 triumph in 2020, and face a Scotland side smarting from their shock 18-15 defeat to Italy in Rome.
Borthwick is expecting an aerial bombardment with poor weather forecast for the weekend and has predicted Gregor Townsend will recall Blair Kinghorn to the side.
“From what I hear, they went for a huge number of contestable kicks against Italy — that was their strategy,” Borthwick said. “And if I reflect on how they played against us last year, there will be a mammoth amount of contestable kicks. Potentially, they are going to pick Kinghorn. He may come back into the team because he’s so good in the air. I reckon that’s the challenge we’ll probably face.”
Two years ago England began brightly at Murrayfield before succumbing to a Scotland comeback, prompting soul-searching during a subsequent training camp. Second-row Ollie Chessum has warned his teammates to expect hostility from the moment they arrive.
“It’s a huge challenge,” Chessum said. “I love going up there, the hostility of the place only adds to the fire. You get off the bus at Murrayfield and there are just people on top of you, there is a tone. Once you hear that boo it just hits you in the face and it doesn’t stop until the whistle goes.”
George Ford has called on England to embrace their impressive run of form, suggesting previous teams have been reluctant to lean into the confidence that comes with an unbeaten stretch.
“It feels like you’re building momentum, like you’re layering on confidence,” Ford said. “We’ve got to definitely use it. It’s such a positive thing, why wouldn’t we use it? I think a lot of the time in England we get told to temper it all the time, but let’s use it.
“We feel like we’re a good team, we feel like there’s improvement and we’re doing what we can to get as close as we can, but let’s back ourselves and keep going for it. We want to turn up there next Saturday and be fully locked and loaded to go and impose our game on them. That’s the key.”
Borthwick believes he is taking a different team to Murrayfield than the one that struggled there two years ago.
“The team’s in a different place now,” he said. “We know Scotland are a top-quality side. They’re steered so well by Finn Russell at number ten, who’s regarded by many as being the best fly-half in the world, who has just come off the back of a successful Lions series. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of emotion from them in the stadium next weekend. We know what a dangerous team they are.”
Updated 36-man England squad
Forwards: Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints), Ben Earl (Saracens), Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), George Kloska (Bristol Bears), Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby).
Backs: Henry Arundell (Bath Rugby), Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers).
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