EXCLUSIVE: England’s World Cup plans are in TATTERS as Anthony Watson is ruled out through injury and Elliot Daly is also a doubt… piling on the misery after Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola bans

England’s World Cup plans have been rocked by further unrest Mailsport understands that Elliot Daly has been banned from the tournament.

At this stage, the nature of his injury is unclear, but the Saracens veteran had been selected by head coach Steve Borthwick as a valued, versatile addition to the back line and a lion of vast experience.

Borthwick confirmed on Thursday that Anthony Watson would miss the entire tournament due to a calf injury following another blow to England.

Wings Jonny May and Joe Cokanasiga have been called up by Borthwick, with May starting Saturday’s warm-up match against Fiji.

This latest chaos follows a turbulent ten days for England which saw captain Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola ruled out for high tackles.

News of the versatile Saracens star’s injury comes as a blow to head coach Steve Borthwick (pictured) following recent suspensions for key senior players Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola

Winger Anthony Watson (left) has been officially ruled out of the World Cup due to injury

Farrell was controversially cleared to play after his red card for a high tackle on Taine Basham was withdrawn before the England captain was ruled out for the opening two games of the World Cup.

The national captain appeared via videolink on Tuesday at an appeals hearing before an independent judicial panel comprising chairman Nigel Hampton KC (New Zealand), along with Shao-ing Wang of Singapore and Donal Courtney of Ireland.

Farrell’s hearing started at 7.30am and some 13 hours later there was an announcement from the Six Nations – which oversees the trial in the case – that the 31-year-old has been suspended for four games after initially receiving a penalty had avoided.

The panel reached a guilty verdict and chose to impose the ‘intermediate’ suspension, with a two-week abbreviation for acceptance of foul play, contrition and good character.

It was agreed that the ban would also include the warm-up game against Ireland in Dublin last weekend.

There was global uproar last week when Farrell was spared punishment in an initial disciplinary hearing after his shoulder hit Basham’s head during the England v Wales game at Twickenham on August 12.

The all-Australian panel believed Jamie George’s contact had changed Basham’s running line a fraction of a second before the collision with Farrell, and that extenuating circumstance meant the matchday decision to upgrade his yellow card was withdrawn to red.

Hours after Farrell was ruled out, Vunipola was handed a three-game suspension for a dangerous high tackle on Irish propagandist Andrew Porter.

Like Farrell, Vunipola will miss the crucial opening games against Argentina and Japan, as well as this weekend’s warm-up game against Fiji.

However, Vunipola has a clean criminal record and has the option to shorten his suspension by a week by attending ‘tackle school’ – which would make him available for Japan.