Kyle Sinckler is the latest injury headache for the England head coach, Steve Borthwick, the Guardian understands, as his side’s preparations for the World Cup continue to be hit by turmoil.
It is understood Sinckler has a chest problem that has ruled him out of Saturday’s match with Fiji. England are said to be optimistic about his chances of being ready for the start of the World Cup campaign but he joins Elliot Daly (knee) and Tom Curry (ankle) as players who will need to prove their fitness before the opening match against Argentina on 9 September.
Joe Heyes, the Leicester tighthead prop, who was not included in England’s 33-man World Cup squad earlier this month, was at training on Friday in a demonstration of the precautions being taken with Sinckler. Joe Cokanasiga was also seen at Twickenham after Anthony Watson’s withdrawal from the squad on Thursday while doubts persist over Daly.
Sinckler started all five of England’s Six Nations matches and, having been troubled by an ongoing back injury last year, the tighthead prop insisted that he was fighting fit on the eve of England’s first warm-up match, against Wales in Cardiff, after “the first pre-season I’ve had in my career that I’ve completed without being injured” but it appears his luck has run out. He came off the bench in all three of England’s previous warm-up matches, scoring a try against Ireland, but fully fit he is Borthwick’s first-choice tighthead. Dan Cole, 36, starts against Fiji while Will Stuart is on the bench.
On Thursday Borthwick confirmed that Watson had joined Jack van Poortvliet in being ruled out of the tournament through injury while Henry Arundell has a back problem and George Martin a knee issue. With Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola also suspended England’s World Cup campaign is in crisis and Sinckler’s issue only compounds matters for Borthwick.
Borthwick will confirm his final World Cup squad on Monday – World Rugby’s deadline for submission – with Jonny May expected to take Watson’s place. Borthwick has opted against doing so before this weekend given the desperate run of luck England are having with injuries but May starts against Fiji on Saturday and is set for the nod if he comes through unscathed.
Against that backdrop, England head into Saturday’s send-off fixture in desperate need of a performance. There will be swathes of empty seats – the Rugby Football Union was hopeful of attracting 50,000 at the start of the week – which does not exactly suggest a raucous atmosphere to provide England’s insipid attack with some much-needed inspiration but another ponderous showing against the Pacific Islanders and World Cup expectations plummet further. Defeat, against an improving side who were competitive for large spells against France last week, and England have nowhere left to turn.
On paper – namely the team-sheet – there is reason for a degree of optimism. Courtney Lawes, on his 100th cap, Jack Willis and Ben Earl form a dynamic back row, Alex Mitchell has the ability to add tempo at scrum-half, Manu Tuilagi and Ollie Lawrence can get over the gain-line. As we have seen in England’s three warm-up matches to date, however, it is not a problem of personnel, rather of collective approach.
Again, though, there is promise in that regard. The word is that England players are beginning to question the current route-one gameplan. A strategy that, certainly from the sidelines, does not look like much fun to carry out and that has not yielded results. England have won three from eight matches under Borthwick and it is becoming clear that he does not have the players at his disposal to implement the tactics with which he was so successful at Leicester.
As Lawes has suggested, the players are beginning to take more ownership of their tactical plan. “When you have a coaching staff like we have, you get on board quite quickly with the strategies being put in place,” he said. “What we have started to do going forward is definitely getting the players’ perspective on it and how we can tweak and change it to best suit our strengths. We will continue to press on, especially in attack which we have not been good in yet. We really think we will come good.”
The key, then, will be how receptive Borthwick is to loosening the straitjackets. Whether he gives his side the latitude to play when the temptation against Fiji will be to kick the ball off the field as much as often. There is no suggestion yet that the current situation is like 2007, when England recovered from losing 36-0 to South Africa to reach the final – a turnaround largely attributed to the players seizing control from the head coach, Brian Ashton, and instigating their own gameplan. But another inhibited performance against Fiji might just edge them closer.
Lawes, for his part, insists the cracks are not showing internally. “You understand when a team is only out for the team, when you’ve got a number of individuals that are only out for themselves,” he added. “And that’s when you know you’ve got an issue, and that is not an issue that this team has.
“One of the big giveaways for things like that is in training when you have not been picked, where is your attitude? Are you still giving to the team? Are you still providing what the team needs? The 15 is not just all on the day. We have to train against players who are going to replicate the team we are playing at the weekend or just give us a good standard of rugby to play against. One of the biggest giveaways is how clocked you are if you are not in the team. Are you providing or are you taking away? Are you being negative? Are you not bothering because you are not in the team? That’s a pretty big sign.”
