England’s preparations have been disrupted by a flurry of late withdrawals before Saturday’s opening Test of the Autumn Nations Series against New Zealand. Ollie Chessum, Charlie Ewels and Tom Roebuck have all been released from the 36-man squad, with Alex Coles, Ted Hill and George Ford called up to replace them.
Chessum had been poised to start, potentially on the blindside flank, before the Leicester forward sustained a knee injury towards the end of England’s training camp in Spain. The player is awaiting further specialist assessment but there are fears he could miss all four November Tests.
With Bath’s Ewels now going through return-to-play protocols after receiving a concussion on Saturday, the England head coach, Steve Borthwick, has been forced to review his lineout options with Northampton’s Coles and Bath’s Hill now joining the national squad in Bagshot. In theory, Saracens’ Nick Isiekwe is in front of both players in the queue for a bench place behind Maro Itoje and George Martin but Hill, in particular, is in rip-roaring form and could yet force his way into the equation.
The improving Roebuck has been impressing for Sale in the Premiership but England remain extremely keen to have the fit-again Ford back in the mix after the fly-half was rested for the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand. When Ford strained a quad muscle playing for Sale at Saracens in late September it seemed he would not be available for the start of the autumn schedule but he is now fully fit to resume training alongside England’s other No 10s, Marcus Smith and Fin Smith.
