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Steve Borthwick’s side kick off their Six Nations campaign at home to Wales as they look to defend their crown
Borthwick has been dealt a double injury blow ahead of the Six Nations(Image: )
England have been dealt a big double injury blow ahead of their Six Nations opener against Wales next month.
Steve Borthwick’s side are the reigning champions and will kick off their title defence against Steve Tandy’s men at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on February 7. However, they look set to do so without two important players who have suffered injury setbacks just a few weeks out from the start of the tournament, with one set to miss the entirety of the competition.
That player is tighthead Asher Opoku-Fordjour, who is set to miss the whole tournament as he prepares to undergo surgery on a shoulder injury later this week, with his club coach describing it as a “real shocker”.
The 21-year-old is joined on the sidelines by fly-half Fin Smith, who is awaiting the results of a scan on a calf strain and has emerged as a doubt for the Wales clash.
Sale Sharks star Opoku-Fordjour, who was called up to train with the British & Irish Lions last summer, hasn’t played since he picked up an elbow injury during his side’s Gallagher PREM defeat to Exeter Chiefs at the end of November.
He was due to make his comeback ahead of the Six Nations, but suffered a further setback in training for the Sharks and is now set to go under the knife in Cardiff on Friday, as his club side travel to Toulouse.
“He will be having an operation to stabilise his shoulder in Cardiff tomorrow, which essentially puts him out for the next couple of months,” said Sale boss Alex Sanderson. “It’s a real shocker for him, us and England.
“It was a contact on the ground last week that destabilised his shoulder. I haven’t really got much more information than that. He was training and running, but wasn’t feeling good and went for a scan.
“You have to follow medical opinion,” Sanderson added. “It’s a routine operation, and he will be back at the end of the Six Nations, I’d imagine.”
As for Smith, his club coach Phil Dowson remains unsure about how long the 23-year-old will be out of action for, but admits it will likely be a minimum of two weeks, with his player facing a race to prove his fitness in time to take on Wales.
“We’re still waiting to see how long that is from a scan point of view,” said Dowson. “It’s probably minimum two weeks, but with a muscle injury it’s hard to give a timeline beyond that.
“It’s not months and months and he’s not going to be back this weekend, so somewhere in between that.”
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