George Ford in contention to compete with Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell for the number 10 shirt as he is declared ‘fit and ready’ for England’s Six Nations trip to Ireland… although Ollie Chessum has been ruled out due to an ankle injury.
- George Ford is available after being sent back to Sale to recover from injury
- Ollie Chessum injured his ankle and will miss England’s clash with Ireland
- Breakthrough forward joins center Ollie Lawrence on the sidelines
George Ford has been declared “fit and ready” for the England to Ireland trip, but striker Ollie Chessum has been ruled out.
Having been sent back to Sale last weekend to continue his comeback from injury, Ford is now in contention to challenge Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell for the No 10 jersey.
Head coach Steve Borthwick must decide whether to keep his playmaker or rotate him, having retained all three for Saturday’s game in Dublin.
But there will also be forced changes to the XV as Chessum injured his ankle in training yesterday, joining center Ollie Lawrence on the sidelines.
Flanker George Martin was drafted into the 30-man squad last night, with Nick Isiekwe, Dave Ribbans and Jonny Hill all in contention to fill the role.
George Ford has been declared ‘fit and ready’ for England’s Six Nations clash with Ireland
He’s set to challenge Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith for the number 10 jersey this weekend.
Center Manu Tuilagi has also been retained after completing his red card suspension.
Reflecting on France’s 53-10 thrashing on Saturday, defense coach Kevin Sinfield said: ‘It’s been tough. Every time you get hit 50 on the chin it’s not nice. It’s all about striking the right balance between giving those guys another chance and also making sure the selection is right for the opposition we’re playing against.
‘This is a big bump in the road, but we didn’t throw our toys out of the pram. They leave a huge mark and it is not forgotten because with them there is pain. Good memories go like this.
“Managing it is really important, people handle it very differently, it’s almost a form of pain, but we got through it.” We’ve had two good sessions, a better session today and we’re looking forward to what is a great game against the best team in the world.
Ollie Chessum (left) has been ruled out after picking up an ankle injury in training.
“If you wanted a test and challenge to find out what character we have, we’ll find out.”
Veteran scrum-half Ben Youngs has once again been sent to his club, meaning Jack van Poortvliet and Alex Mitchell will feature in the closing match.
And Sinfield sent a message to disgruntled fans, saying: ‘Please be patient, stay behind the players, they need your support. We are doing everything we can to correct this and get back to where we need to be.”