Six Nations 2020: Anthony Watson set to miss England vs Ireland as injury problems continue

Bath back has not featured in this year’s championship due to a calf injury and Eddie Jones has revealed he is likely to miss at least the next match against Ireland

Jack de Menezes

Thursday 13 February 2020 16:05 GMT

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England reignite Six Nations hopes after victory against Scotland

Anthony Watson is set to miss England’s next Six Nations match against Ireland as he continues to struggle with the calf injury that has prevented his participation in the championship over the opening two rounds.

The Bath back was slated to start England’s opener against France at full-back, only for the injury that he picked up before the tournament to rule him out of the trip to Paris and result in uncapped George Furbank making his debut.

Watson was subsequently sent back to Bath for treatment on his injury and missed the trip to Murrayfield for the 13-6 win over Scotland last Saturday, and after being left out of this week’s training camp in London, head coach Eddie Jones confirmed that Watson is unlikely to face the unbeaten Irish next weekend.

There were more positive updates on Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade, with the two centres brought back into camp this week to have their injuries assessed. Tuilagi suffered a groin strain in Paris that forced him off after quarter of an hour, while Slade is recovering from a fractured ankle sustained playing for Exeter last December.

“Manu is looking very good, very promising,” said Jones. “He should be in full training by the start of next week.

Six Nations team of round two

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1/16Six Nations team of round two

Six Nations team of round two

Six Nations team of round two

England regained the Calcutta Cup with a 13-6 victory over Scotland, while Ireland maintained their 100 per cent record with a bonus-point win over Wales and France stumbled their way past Italy. So who makes our team of the weekend after round two?

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Six Nations team of round two

15. Jordan Larmour (Ireland)

The Irishman has looked assured since replacing Rob Kearney as Ireland’s No 1 full-back and brought Saturday’s Aviva Staium encounter to life, beating four Welsh defenders with a beauty of a side-step that opened the door for the first try of the match. Kearney remains a pair of safe hands at the back, but Larmour is proving how he gives Ireland an extra cutting edge in attack.

AFP via Getty Images

Six Nations team of round two

14. Andrew Conway (Ireland)

Conway is quietly going about his business as the best-performing wing so far in the Six Nations, having put in two very strong performances so far. The Munster-man looked strong in defence and took his chance when it presented itself to seal the bonus point.

AP

Six Nations team of round two

13. Arthur Vincent (France)

Given the task of replacing the injured Virimi Vakatawa and did himself justice with an assured performance. The centre contributed well with ball in hand but it was his defensive work that stood out with 16 successful tackles to lead the line in stopping a much-improved Italian side.

AP

Six Nations team of round two

12. Sam Johnson (Scotland)

A few contenders for the shirt as both Owen Farrell and Bundee Aki has positive impacts this weekend, but Johnson gets the nod for being the standout Scot in defeat during the Calcutta Cup clash. The centre has put in two good performances in as many weeks, only for no reward.

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Six Nations team of round two

11. Matteo Minozzi (Italy)

His head-to-head battle against Teddy Thomas saw both score tries, but it was Minozzi who showed a more all-round game that helped drag Italy back into the fight when they were in danger of being blown out of the game. As well as his try, Minozzi showed good awareness and handling to link with his teammates to unlock the most impressive defence from the opening weekend.

EPA

Six Nations team of round two

10. Johnny Sexton (Ireland)

George Ford performed well under pressure at Murrayfield and Romain Ntamack did well attacking-wise, but Sexton’s return to form cannot be overlooked. The Ireland captaincy is helping to bring the best out of him once more, and not only did he vary up his pass-to-kick ratio nicely, but he also put in a solid shift defensively – as depicted by his busted cheek when he was eventually replaced.

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Six Nations team of round two

9. Anthoine Dupont (France)

The first of four players to maintain their place in our team of the weekend, Dupont is threatening to make the Player of the Tournament award a one-man race if he maintains this level of performance. It was his miss-pass that sent Gregory Alldritt in for a try, while he also made another outside break and no-look pass that split apart the defence. A word for his replacement Baptiste Serin, who scored a sumptuous individual effort.

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Six Nations team of round two

1. Ellis Genge (England)

Genge may be consigned to the role of replacement at the moment but he is doing his best to batter the door down to the starting line-up in his own uncompromising way. Twice now he has come on to noticeably improve England’s scrum, which has given them the platform they need to seize control of games, and his try finally broke Scotland’s spirit to take the Calcutta Cup back south of the border.

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Six Nations team of round two

2. Julien Marchand (France)

Marchand endured a slight wobble in the lineout mid-match, but it was sandwiched by a virtuoso performance with and without the ball. The hooker was one of Les Bleus most prominent carriers, but he also chipped in with 11 tackles in a 100 per cent defensive showing.

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Six Nations team of round two

3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)

The Irish tighthead was at his rampaging best to barrel over the Welsh defence and score Ireland’s second try, putting them back in front, but it was his reaction to winning a scrum penalty on their own five-metre line that prompted the biggest roar of the match. Furlong keeps his place comfortably as the outstanding tighthead of the Six Nations so far.

PA

Six Nations team of round two

4. Maro Itoje (England)

Itoje proved England’s defensive linchpin with a whopping 23 tackles in the face of Storm Ciara as the lock made a right nuisance of himself, including in the set-piece where he helped to pick apart the Scottish lineout.

AFP via Getty Images

Six Nations team of round two

5. James Ryan (Ireland)

Ryan keeps his place in the side with another mammoth showing with the ball in hand. Ryan carried more than any other Irish player alongside Larmour to make 50 metres from an impressive 14 attempts, and added onto that was a team-leading 18 tackles that helps to mark him out as the player of the round.

AFP via Getty Images

Six Nations team of round two

6. CJ Stander (Ireland)

Like Ryan, Stander retains his place with a second man-of-the-match gong in as many games. Strictly speaking, Stander played the duration at No 8 this week but such was his performance – and that of a certain Englishman – we had to find space to squeeze them both into the back-row.

AFP via Getty Images

Six Nations team of round two

7. Sam Underhill (England)

The flanker may not have landed all of his tackle attempts but the ones he did – 16 in total – stopped the Scots in their tracks. Underhill showed the best of his game when he needed just a split-second to strip the ball at the breakdown late in the first half and release Elliot Daly to counter.

AFP via Getty Images

Six Nations team of round two

8. Tom Curry (England)

Curry answered his critics in the No 8 shirt with a dominant showing at Murrayfield. The young Sale forward helped protect full-back George Furbank by dropping deep, made 12 successful tackles and led a back-row unit that delivered five turnovers in the opening half, and in a game where the hard yards were tough to come by his 70 metres were game-defining.

AFP via Getty Images

“Henry Slade ran today and we’ve yet to get a medical report. It’s definitely promising but too early to say whether he will be all right for Ireland or not.

“Anthony Watson is still a couple of weeks away.”

It means that the 25-year-old Watson will look to target England’s penultimate game in the Six Nations against Wales on 7 March for a possible return, and failure to meet that target could see him miss the entire championship, with only the final weekend trip to Italy remaining.

Victory over Ireland will keep England’s championship hopes alive, with Andy Farrell’s side in the running for the Grand Slam alongside France after winning their two opening fixtures against Scotland and Wales. But it will be the first time that Farrell has taken his side away from the Aviva Stadium after back-to-back games in Dublin, while England will be returning to Twickenham for the first time since their 57-15 record World Cup warm-up victory over the same side.

“Ireland are a good team, well coached, and we respect them a lot.” Jones added. “We’re looking forward to playing in front of our fans.”

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