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| Hip injury rules England’s Semesa Rokoduguni out of South Africa match | Hip injury rules England’s Semesa Rokoduguni out of South Africa match |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| England will be without the Bath winger Semesa Rokoduguni for Saturday’s game against South Africa and have also called up James Haskell as injury cover for Northampton back-row Tom Wood. Rokoduguni has failed to recover from a thigh problem while Wood is still sore following last weekend’s 24-21 defeat by the All Blacks. | |
| Harlequins’ Marland Yarde has been called up to the squad in place of Rokoduguni, with Anthony Watson – who won his first cap off the bench last weekend – also offering a back three alternative. Haskell was not involved against New Zealand but the head coach, Stuart Lancaster, will wait another 24 hours before settling on his final selection. “Tom is still sore from the weekend and sat out training so we are including five back-rows to give us options before we announce the side on Thursday morning,” said Lancaster. | |
| There have been suggestions that England might also have been considering a change at No8 but the slight uncertainty surrounding Wood may improve the chances of Billy Vunipola retaining his place. The centre Kyle Eastmond, meanwhile, has recovered from a stomach bug and is now set to retain his place in the home midfield alongside Brad Barritt. “I think it would be very harsh to move those two players on,” said England’s attacking skills coach, Mike Catt. “We’ve been very happy with Kyle. Against South Africa we need to make sure we get our game-plan right. If we get that right, we will see Kyle and Brad working exceptionally well together.” | |
| Lancaster, however, must also wait until morning for final confirmation that Courtney Lawes and Dylan Hartley are free of any symptoms of concussion. Time has already run out for Rokoduguni, who made his Test debut against the All Blacks, offering a route back into the matchday squad for Yarde. “Roko did some limited training this morning but is unlikely to fully recover from his thigh injury in time for the game,” said Lancaster. | |
| After four successive losses to New Zealand, England are in need of a rousing performance this weekend. Lancaster suggested the players had “responded well” in training after their disappointment against New Zealand but the management continue to have desperate luck with injuries. Alex Corbisiero, Mako Vunipola, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole, Geoff Parling, Joe Launchbury, Tom Croft and Manu Tuilagi are among numerous players currently sidelined. | |
| England squad | |
| Forwards: Dave Attwood (Bath), Kieran Brookes (Newcastle), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), James Haskell (Wasps), George Kruis (Saracens), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Matt Mullan (Wasps), David Wilson (Bath), Ben Morgan (Gloucester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Rob Webber (Bath), Tom Wood (Northampton). Backs: Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Kyle Eastmond (Bath), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath), Jonny May (Gloucester), Anthony Watson (Bath), Marland Yarde (Harlequins), Ben Youngs (Leicester) |