New England must rely on old heads

England forwards coach Matt Proudfoot believes his side will have to rely on their experienced players in this weekend’s Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland.

The Red Roses have been forced to endure an injury crisis, with numerous household names ruled out of their Six Nations opener.

Captain Owen Farrell and star winger Jonny May have both been ruled out of the tournament after undergoing ankle surgery.

Anthony Watson is also ruled out of the tournament due to an ACL injury, while Manu Tuilagi is unavailable with a torn hamstring until at least the third round of the tournament.

In the forwards the scenario is just as bad as Jonny Hill and Courtney Lawes have both been ruled out of Saturday’s eagerly awaited fixture with their injuries.

While Joe Marchant is in self-isolation after the versatile back tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.

Therefore, it leaves Jones’ side with a lack of experience and Proudfoot believes the senior members of the squad must step up to the plate.

He said: “The Six Nations is a unique competition, having sat in the other side of the equation in the Southern Hemisphere watching it you don’t understand the full intricacies of the competition.

“The history of the neighbours and brothers playing against each other, you don’t quite understand the intensity of England against Scotland until you’re in the clash.

“So, that whole equation requires that you have players who have been there and experienced that before.

“We counted 12 or 13 players that have played in that environment of beating Scotland, so having that experience to draw upon is important, whether that player is 31 or 21. If they’ve played in these big Calcutta Cup games and have come through that experience with a victory then that’s crucial for us.”

England were boosted today by the return of Joe Marler to training after recovering from Covid-19, with the prop bringing a wealth of much-needed experience with his 72 caps.

Written by Ben Jaycock