Kyle Sinckler is on course to make his return from a groin injury this weekend, handing Steve Borthwick a fresh boost before he begins his tenure as England head coach in next month’s Six Nations opener against Scotland.
Sinckler has not appeared for Bristol since sustaining a groin injury in England’s defeat by South Africa six weeks ago but is primed to return against London Irish in west London on Sunday, according to the Bears director of rugby, Pat Lam.
The 29-year-old missed England’s summer tour of Australia with a back injury but with Will Stuart sidelined in the autumn, Sinckler fought his way back into the No 3 jersey and was declared the leading tighthead in the world when fit by Eddie Jones before his sacking.
Sinckler attended one of two England get-togethers this week as Borthwick introduced himself to his new charges and conducted a number of heat-training exercises with a view to preparation for conditions at this year’s World Cup. He has fresh competition at tighthead after Borthwick offered a route back to the Test arena to the 35-year-old Dan Cole, who played such a key role in Leicester’s Premiership triumph last season under the new England head coach and who was also called into camp this week. Cole has not appeared for England since he was summoned from the bench in the opening few minutes of the 2019 World Cup final after an early head injury to Sinckler.
“He [Sinckler] should be available this weekend,” said Lam. “He hasn’t played since the autumn internationals, and rugby players don’t like being out for a long time. They don’t like watching rugby.”
Meanwhile, Bristol’s nail-biting victory over Harlequins just after Christmas set a new TV audience record with more than one million people watching the game on ITV and BT Sport, according to Premiership Rugby. The combined peak audience of 1.04 million ensured the game – which was due to be staged at Twickenham, only for transport disruption to force a move to the Stoop – was the most-watched regular-season match in the history of Premiership Rugby.
Six Nations officials are exploring the possibility of introducing in-stadium shot clocks to all three of its competitions this year after the introduction at the start of the year of World Rugby’s directives designed to speed up play, but have stressed that no decision has yet been made. “The introduction of initiatives like a shot clock are interesting and are being considered across rugby as a sport,” read a statement. “Any decision by Six Nations Rugby will be made prior to the Championship, in collaboration with our unions, broadcasters and the venues across the three competitions. Six Nations Rugby is committed to supporting initiatives that enhance the experience for fans and encourages the continued development of the game.”
The Scottish referee, Hollie Davidson, is set to make history this month when she leads an all-female team of officials taking charge of the Challenge Cup fixture between the Scarlets and the Cheetahs. Davidson will be joined by the assistant referees Sara Cox of England and Clara Munarini of Italy as well as the English TMO Claire Hodnett and citing commissioner Helen O’Reilly of Ireland. It will be the first time that an all-female team has overseen an EPCR fixture. The 30-year-old Davidson, who refereed the Women’s World Cup final between New Zealand and England last November, was previously part of the first all-female team of officials to take charge of a men’s Test between Italy and Portugal last June.
