New England head coach Steve Borthwick is set to be without a. number of stars for his first game in charge early next month.
Their Six Nations campaign is set to begin in four weeks with a home game against Scotland, followed by a match against Italy at Twickenham a week later.
Below, we take a look at five players who are set to be unavailable to the England boss
#1. Owen Farrell (Saracens)
The England skipper has been cited following the game against Gloucester Rugby for dangerous tackling, contrary to World Rugby Law 9.13. The hearing will take place on Tuesday 10 January at 6.30pm.
Farrell made direct contact with the head of Jack Clement of Gloucester during a tackle, which the referee Karl Dickson did not address at the time. He later scored a game-winning drop-goal in the final minute.
If the incident is classified as a mid-range offense, Farrell could potentially face a six-week ban, with the possibility of reduction for mitigating circumstances.
Farrell previously admitted to committing a top-end offence in September 2020, leading to a five-week ban for a dangerous tackle on Charlie Atkinson during a match against Wasps, which carries a starting point of a ten-week ban.
#2. Henry Arundell (London Irish)
Arundell starred for Irish towards the end of last season, making a series of impressive displays for the club before making his England debut during the summer tour against Australia.
The 20-year-old was duly expected to play a more prominent role for the Red Rose in the Autumn Nations Series, but he was forced to sit that out and he could now miss the start of the Six Nations.
“He has had surgery on Monday and will be out for a number of weeks,” Kidney told reporters.
“The foot injury he got prior to the November Tests didn’t respond as we hoped and it was necessary to have surgery and he will be in a boot for six weeks and then we will have to see how he recovers.
“He has shown good healing powers in the past but it will be the New Year before he starts playing again.”
