England’s midfield stocks have taken another hit ahead of their Six Nations trip to Rome.
Ollie Lawrence has been ruled out once more.
The RFU confirmed on Sunday evening that the Bath centre has returned to his club for rehabilitation, despite only recently rejoining Steve Borthwick’s squad after injury. Lawrence had been a doubt for the clash at the Stadio Olimpico after receiving a knee injection during the week, and will now play no part.
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His absence leaves Borthwick weighing up his options in the No 13 channel. Gloucester’s Seb Atkinson, who played 50 minutes in the Premiership Cup at the RFU’s request, is firmly in the mix. One of Tommy Freeman or Henry Slade could also shift inwards if required.
The setback follows confirmation that scrumhalf Alex Mitchell will miss the remainder of the Six Nations after suffering a hamstring injury against Ireland.
“Alex has been scanned and seen the relevant specialists,” Borthwick said. “He’ll be out for a number of weeks, unfortunately, so won’t feature in the remainder of this championship.”
Jack van Poortvliet, who replaced Mitchell in Dublin, is in line to start in Rome, with Raffi Quirke drafted in as cover.
Notably, there has been no call-up for Bath utility back Max Ojomoh.
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England squad – Ollie Chessum, Arthur Clark, Alex Coles, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Curry, Theo Dan, Trevor Davison, Ben Earl, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Joe Heyes, Maro Itoje, Jack Kenningham, Emmanuel Iyogun, George Kloska, Guy Pepper, Henry Pollock, Bevan Rodd, Sam Underhill, Henry Arundell, Seb Atkinson, Elliot Daly, Fraser Dingwall, George Ford, Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Cadan Murley, Raffi Quirke, Tom Roebuck, Henry Slade, Marcus Smith, Fin Smith, Ben Spencer, Freddie Steward, Jack van Poortvliet.
Photo: Toby Melville/REUTERS
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