England given fresh injury headache as George Kruis misses training ahead of Six Nations opener against France

Kruis missed training on Tuesday with a knee injury and could force Eddie Jones into a reshuffle among his forwards, although Maro Itoje looks certain to start at flanker

George Kruis is an injury doubt for England ahead of their Six Nations opener against France (Getty)

England have a fresh injury concern to deal with just four days before their Six Nations opener against France after George Kruis suffered a knee injury in training on Tuesday, putting his participation in the Twickenham encounter.

Eddie Jones has retained 25 players for the opening game of their Six Nations championship defence, with the Australian head coach yet to taste defeat in the northern hemisphere tournament. However, he will not welcome the fresh injury concern over Kruis, with the Saracens lock missing the final training session on Tuesday having been dogged by fitness concerns this season.

26-year-old Kruis was only passed fit for Saturday’s match last week, having suffered a broken cheekbone while on Saracens duty, and he also missed the opening two autumn internationals after undergoing ankle surgery last October.

The England coaching team will not make a decision on Kruis until Wednesday once he has undergone further assessment, but regardless of his condition it looks certain that his Saracens teammate Maro Itoje will remain in the back-row.

Having made his England debut against Italy in last year’s Six Nations as a replacement at blindside flanker and also being deployed there in the final summer Test against Australia, Itoje will replace the injured Chris Robshaw – who will miss the entire campaign after undergoing a shoulder operation – and will form a backline that will see Tom Wood remain at openside flanker and Nathan Hughes filling in at for Billy Vunipola at No 8.

Should Kruis fail to recover in time for Le Crunch, then Courtney Lawes will join Joe Launchbury in the second-row.

There is good news for England though in that James Haskell, Jack Nowell and

Itoje are all retained, having missed the entire autumn programme with foot, thigh and hand injuries respectively. Haskell looks set to be handed a place on the replacements’ bench as back-row cover, while Nowell and Itoje are in line to make their first starts for England since last year’s tour Down Under.

Nowell is likely to join Jonny May on the wing after Anthony Watson was ruled out of the opening two matches of the tournament, but England do have concerns over the Gloucester back after he suffered a gashed head during training.

Courtney Lawes would be the likely replacement for Kruis if he fails to recover (Getty)

Joe Marler is winning the battle to be fit for this weekend’s clash, just 27 days after being left with a fractured leg during a Harlequins warm-up session, and he is likely to start alongside captain Dylan Hartley and prop Dan Cole in the front-row with one of Matt Mullan and Ellis Genge likely to miss out on the 23-man matchday squad, along with either Kruis or Teimana Harrison depending on how the former responds to treatment on Wednesday.

Jones announces his squad for Saturday’s match against France at 10am on Thursday.

England’s 25-man squad

Forwards

Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), Jamie George (Saracens), Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Wasps), Nathan Hughes (Wasps), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Matt Mullan (Wasps), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints).

Backs

Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath Rugby), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).