Marcus Smith ruled out of England match against Italy with calf injury

Fly-half considered a doubt for second match at home to Wales

Northampton’s Fin Smith in line to make England debut.

Marcus Smith has been ruled out of England’s Six Nations opener against Italy on Saturday, paving the way for namesake Fin to make his debut in Rome. The Harlequins fly-half sustained a calf injury at England’s training camp in Girona and an initial scan has ruled him out of contention for the weekend’s opening round.

It is a bitter blow for Marcus Smith, who was believed to be in strong contention for the No 10 jersey in Rome, and for Steve Borthwick who is waiting on further information to discover how long he will be sidelined. He must also be considered a serious doubt for England’s second match at home to Wales on Saturday week.

Borthwick has already lost Ollie Lawrence and Luke Cowan-Dickie since naming his squad while George Martin, Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Watson, Jack van Poortvliet and Tom Curry are also injured.

“[Marcus] won’t make this weekend sadly,” said the assistant coach, Kevin Sinfield. “It is a calf injury. We got the scan report through but we are waiting to understand exactly what that means for us moving forward. He’s not fit for this weekend. At the minute, we’re waiting for a second opinion on the scan. We will know more then.”

In his absence, George Ford and Fin Smith are the contenders for the No 10 jersey. Ford offers experience to what will be a much changed lineup to the World Cup but the Northampton player is the form fly-half in the country and is earning rave reviews from England’s coaching staff. Whether from the start or as a replacement, he is now in line for an international debut on Saturday.