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England suffer potential front-row crisis ahead of Six Nations after triple blow

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Eticketing UK
England suffer potential front-row crisis ahead of Six Nations after triple blow

English Six Nations shares currently look decidedly empty after three potential Steve Borthwick options collapsed in recent days. Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson revealed this week that Bevan Rodd will miss the entire tournament following surgery on a damaged toe.

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And then on Saturday Joe Marler and Mako Vunipola - two players with more than 70 caps - involved in incidents that could have damaged their Six Nations chances.

Six Nations Injury and red card

As for Marler, he suffer a hand injury and forced off the field late in the first half despite attempting to continue the game. Harlequins were clearly in discomfort and trailed during most of the stoppages before wisely accepting defeat.

He replaced by Fin Baxter in the 36th minute and will now undergo scans to determine the extent of the problem. Injuries to fellow Queens strikers Dino Lamb and Stefan Lewis will also require further investigation after they escaped with nasty shoulder problems.

There will be scans and we will wait and see, Queens head coach Danny Wilson said. Fingers crossed they're not too bad because they're three big players for us. Marler's injury would normally open the door for someone like Mako Vunipola to miss the Rugby World Cup, but he was red carded on Saturday.

The 32-year-old sent off for a dangerous tackle late in the win over Newcastle Falcons and faces a ban. If he is only suspend for three games, it will make him available for the Six Nations, but Sarri boss Mark McCall hope the suspension will overturned.

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“We'll see what the tribunal thinks because it was part of a double tackle and he came second, McCall said. The main tackler affected the height of the body.”

England’s options for Six Nations

There were also concerns about World Cup starter Ellis Genge, who picked up a hamstring problem in December. This means that the three England players who lost at the world tournament - Genge, Marler and Rodd - are all injured.

However, Genge is expected to feature in the Six Nations and could well available next week. But with Rodd definitely out, Marler's situation currently unknown and another option, Gloucester's Van Rapawa-Ruskin, on the sidelines, who's left then?

Beno Obano is the obvious name that comes to mind as he has shone for Bath this season. The 29-year-old has suffered injury problems of his own, but now that the free head is fully fit, he looks next in line. Bath's scrum has dominated this season with Obano up front and he could well add to his three Six Nations caps.

Elsewhere, young Baxter is developing well at Harlequins, while Tarek Haffar has featured for Northampton Saints against talented Sale Sharks teenager Asher Opoku-Forjour. They are likely ahead of Newcastle's Phil Brantingham, who is starting to impress in the Falcons' starting line-up.

England hopeful signs a new deal with Northampton

Star center Fraser Dingwall has signed a new contract with Northampton Saints as just reward for his brilliant form this season. Dingwall played a key role in helping his side rise to the top of the Premier League with six straight wins.

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The 24-year-old has been with the club for over a century and director of rugby Phil Dawson sees Dingwall as a key part of the leadership group. Despite his age, Frazier is in many ways one of the older players and a leader on our team, especially on defense, Dawson said. You can also read Steve Borthwick’s team of England Six Nations is very distinct.

He's a really important part of the team and a lot of people look at Fraser both in terms of how he prepares and how he plays the game. He is a top-level player, there is no doubt about that; he reads the game brilliantly, has excellent footwork on the line and is capable of making a huge contribution on both sides of the ball.

“But what's also impressive about him is the way he takes care of people, makes sure everyone is on the right track and communicates with the coaches - all of those elements are very important to us.”

Ready for Test rugby

Dawson believes Dingwall will be useful at Test level as he has already been on the fringes of the England squad. The fact that he has recognized internationally and selected for so many training camps in England shows he is already capable of playing at this level, Dawson said.

It's hard to break into international rugby, but I'm confident Fraser can do it because of his ability to improve all the players around him. He creates space, does the unseen work and talks to everyone in the back line to get them moving in the right direction.

"He's one of those players who will be hard to move from once he puts on the national team shirt because he's so influential to those around him."

Tuilagi set to miss start of England’s Six Nations campaign with groin injury

Manu Tuilagi could ruled out of England's opening Six Nations campaign with a groin injury. Tuilagi scored in Sale's home win over Saracens on December 22 and Alex Sanderson, Sale's director of rugby, predicted on Thursday the center would be out for five or six weeks with a grade three muscle tear. He pulled his groin. He doesn't need surgery, Sanderson said. We think he'll be back for the Six Nations, but not for the first week.

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England begin their campaign on February 3 against Italy in Rome and Tuilagi, who has been dogged by injuries since his debut in 2011, believes he can beat the official forecast. According to Sanderson, about five or six weeks, but as always, six weeks is recommended. Manu says four.

Second-placed Sale are contenders for this season's Premier League title and they travel to third-placed Northampton on Saturday - with the winner of the match top of the table at a sold-out Franklin's Gardens. But the Sharks coach said Tuilagi's desire to play for England remains strong.

“As far as choice goes, it’s up to England, Sanderson said. Obviously, he was in the picture before this [injury]. I have already stated my intention to continue playing international rugby."

Asked if he believes Tuilagi will remain positive despite the recent injury setback, Sanderson said: If anyone can stay in that positive zone, Manu is the man who can. I saw him this morning and said, Look, they [the media] are going to ask, what do you want me to say? And he said, just tell them what you want to tell them. He trusts me. on this front.

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"I was like, what do you want to do? Do you want to play international rugby? Does this affect your motivation? And he said, I just want to play. If they choose me, I'll be ready. So, he's already focused on the future in terms of him coming back and getting on the field."

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