ENGLAND STAR SUFFERS CRUEL INJURY BLOW AHEAD OF FRANCE TEST

England winger Cadan Murley has been ruled out of his side’s upcoming Six Nations clash with France due to a foot injury picked up against Ireland.

The Harlequins star finally made his long-awaited Test debut last weekend against Ireland, starting on the wing, however, he will now miss Le Crunch after picking up the knock in the 27-22 loss at the Aviva.

Cadan Murley ruled out of France clash

Murley got off to the dream start on his Test debut as he latched onto Henry Slade’s grubber kick to open the scoring – and also provided an assist for Tom Curry – however crucial defensive mistakes marred what was a pretty solid attacking display.

Despite a mixed-bag debut, he was still in line to feature against France this weekend, however, he now requires a scan and will sit this game out. Depending on the prognosis, he could feature at the back end of the Championship.

As a result of his injury, Alex Lozowski has been called into the wider 35-man training squad.

The news also comes following injuries to Raffi Quirke and Arthur Clark, with the duo being replaced in the squad by experienced hooker Jamie George.

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Murley’s injury also gives Steve Borthwick a major selection headache heading into round two of the Six Nations. Tom Roebuck would be a great replacement for Murley, and whilst he is a different brand of winger, he fits the Borthwick mould to a tee. Ollie Sleightholme is also a potential option after his impressive showings in the autumn, but he has had his own injury problems in recent times too.

A slightly left-field call could be Freddie Steward moving to the wing, with Marcus Smith pushing back to fullback and Fin Smith starting at fly-half. This combination of Smith squared, yet again, worked well in the closing stages of the Ireland Test, and this gives Borthwick a great excuse to give it a go from the off.

The exact England 23-man match-day squad will be confirmed later this week.

England 35-man training squad to face France in full

Forwards: Fin Baxter, Ollie Chessum, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ben Curry, Tom Curry, Theo Dan, Ben Earl, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Joe Heyes, Ted Hill, Maro Itoje, Curtis Langdon, George Martin, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Bevan Rodd, Will Stuart, Tom Willis

Backs: Oscar Beard, Elliot Daly, Fraser Dingwall, George Ford, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Lawrence, Alex Lozowski, Alex Mitchell, Harry Randall, Tom Roebuck, Henry Slade, Ollie Sleightholme, Fin Smith, Marcus Smith, Ben Spencer, Freddie Steward

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2025-02-04T10:19:14Z