England’s hopes of gatecrashing Ireland’s Grand Slam celebration in Dublin on Saturday have been hit by the lack of Ollie Chessum to an ankle downside.
Chessum sustained the damage in coaching on Tuesday and whereas no timeframe has been given for his return, he will certainly sit out the the climax to the Guinness Six Nations on St Patrick’s weekend.
The 22-year-old nine-cap worldwide has overshadowed extra established second-row associate Maro Itoje all through the match on account of his work charge and affect throughout the sphere.
But his breakthrough Six Nations is over in a major setback for England, who will now select between David Ribbans, Nick Isiekwe, George Martin and Jonny Hill for his alternative on the Aviva Stadium.
“Ollie will be a huge loss. He’s been great for us. We’ve played him in the second row but he covers back row for us as well,” defence coach Kevin Sinfield stated.
Chessum is the second starter from Saturday’s record-breaking 53-10 defeat by France to overlook out towards the world’s primary ranked workforce after centre Ollie Lawrence was struck down by hamstring harm.
Manu Tuilagi has accomplished a three-week suspension for harmful play and affords a direct alternative for the hard-running Lawrence, however Steve Borthwick could as an alternative overhaul the midfield fully.
For the primary time on this Six Nations, Borthwick will method Thursday’s workforce announcement with three fly-halves in competition after Marcus Smith, Owen Farrell and George Ford had been retained in a decreased 30-man squad.
The problem dealing with Borthwick is deciding whether or not to provide the beginning XV who collapsed earlier than France – minus the injured Chessum and Lawrence – one other likelihood or to make adjustments.
“It’s about getting the balance right between giving those guys another shot but also making sure that the selection is right for the opposition we’re playing against, which is what we’ve tried to do during the campaign,” Sinfield stated.
“We’ve tried to pick a team that suits both how we want to play but also the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses.
“We will stay along that same theme but the balance between the two will be crucial for us this weekend.”
England have been coming to phrases with their heaviest defeat within the Championship’s 141-year historical past, with their first coaching session since leaking seven tries to France at Twickenham happening on Tuesday.
They should regroup shortly as a result of Ireland in Dublin is presently the sport’s hardest task.
“It’s been tough. Any time you get 50 stuck on your chin it’s not nice,” stated Sinfield, who was appointed Borthwick’s quantity two after Eddie Jones was sacked in December.
“You probably get a fair bit less sleep because you’re mulling things over trying to understand why, but we’ve worked incredibly hard over the last couple of days to try and fix some of the areas we fell short in – and there are quite a few.
“The players were hit pretty hard as you can expect from a result like that but we’ve stuck together and we fight through it as a team, squad and staff to ensure that we continue to move forward.
“This was never going to be a straight line and it was never going to be straightforward.
“When you ship 50 points and you’re in charge of the defence, it doesn’t sit well with you. I certainly don’t put this at the players’ door. We’re all in this together and we’ve got to work our way through it.
“For whatever reason we didn’t turn up on Saturday. It’s our jobs to fix it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“It shouldn’t have happened on Saturday but what’s done is done, we learn the lessons, pick the bones out of it and ensure we’re better this weekend.”
