England has been handed a fresh injury concern with the Six Nations approaching after Tom Curry limped off in the opening quarter of Sale’s impressive win at Harlequins. The 24-year-old flanker has a strained right hamstring and faces a race against time to be fit for the Calcutta Cup fixture against Scotland over the road at Twickenham on 4 February.

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England Rugby World Cup: Worry for England Rugby Side as Tom limps off in Sale’s win over Harlequins

Exeter’s Luke Cowan-Dickie also suffered a worrying ankle injury over the weekend and Owen Farrell is awaiting the citing commissioner’s verdict following a contentious high tackle in Gloucester on Friday night. Curry’s availability is therefore a further complication for the new England head coach Steve Borthwick as he looks to his first Six Nations campaign in charge.

Alex Sanderson, Sale’s director of rugby, was understandably keener to dwell on the positives of his side’s latest hard-edged performance but suggested Curry would not play any more club rugby before the tournament’s opening weekend. Even if hamstring injuries are the lowest grade, they are generally two to three weeks, told Sanderson. He will get a scan. He was walking around but it has stiffened up, fingers are crossed he will be OK.

The more encouraging news for Borthwick is that Marcus Smith is due to return for Quins in their European pool game in Paris next weekend, having been sidelined lately with a high ankle sprain. With fitness doubts still hanging over Courtney Lawes and Henry Arundell, Raffi Quirke, and Will Stuart all currently out, there will be some relief within England’s new regime that Manu Tuilagi avoided any on-field sanction after a horrible second-half collision which saw the Quins fly-half Tommy Allen carried off on a stretcher.

The England centre received no punishment after referee Wayne Barnes decided the centre’s onrushing charge at a falling Allen did not merit a card of any colour and Sanderson suggested the officials had dealt with the incident correctly. I thought it was a brilliant way to referee the game nowadays. The guy was coming towards the deck, it was a purely accidental rugby incident as opposed to Manu being reckless. I thought it was Wayne Barnes at his best.

There could be no argument whatsoever about the effectiveness of Sale’s wet-weather rugby, with the visitors dealing much better with the sodden underfoot conditions and slippery ball. So much rain had fallen before kick-off that parts of the A316 outside the ground were flooded and retaining the ball was tricky throughout.

It was certainly not a day to study Quins’ attacking shape in an England context following the elevation of Nick Evans to the national coaching panel, although the home side’s director of rugby Tabai Matson suggested England had made a shrewd appointment. We’re excited for him. When our attack’s going well, he’s the mastermind behind it. We’ll be filling a big hole.

England Rugby World Cup: Worry for England Rugby Side as Tom limps off in Sale’s win over Harlequins

Matson also acknowledged Evans could well end up joining England permanently, while the former All-Black fly-half already sounds keen to get started and is hoping to bring energy to the English attack. There’s not a lot of time so systems and structures are not going to change massively, said Evans. It will be about bringing energy and belief.

Sale certainly has a few individuals who should at least merit consideration for a place in Borthwick’s first England squad. Sam and Luke James again showed their unfussy ability while wingers Aaron Reed and O’Flaherty both did their reputations no harm behind a muscular pack not inconvenienced by Curry’s premature departure.

Ben Curry and Simon McIntyre may have struggled to catch Eddie Jones’s eye, but the pair was again influential as Sale made the most of Quins’ sluggish start. Tom O’Flaherty splashed over for his side’s first try after 18 minutes before Rob du Preez touched down a chip ahead to add a second and help the Sharks into a 14-6 half-time lead.

The maroon-clad visitors added a third in the 54th minute through their dynamic hooker Akker van der Merwe before Cobus Wiese secured their fourth try from close range early in the final quarter. Tuilagi had a mixed afternoon opposite the similarly hard-hitting André Esterhuizen but the home side’s two second-half tries from Joe Marchant and Nick David were scored mostly against the run of play.

England Rugby World Cup: Worry for England Rugby Side as Tom limps off in Sale’s win over Harlequins

It leaves Sale, who stuck 40 points on Leicester in their previous outing, sitting pretty in second position behind Saracens at the top of the league table. Third-placed Quins, in contrast, have lost their last three Premiership games and are 12 points adrift of the Sharks with attention switching to Europe for the next fortnight. Worldwide Tickets and Hospitality offers Rugby World Cup tickets for the France Rugby World Cup 2023 at the best prices. Rugby fans can buy Rugby World Cup Final Tickets at exclusively discounted prices.

England Rugby player Marcus Smith to join Borthwick after missing training camp

Flyhalf Marcus Smith is set to join Steve Borthwick in a one-on-one after he missed the new England Rugby head coach’s first training camp due to an injury. An ankle sprain has stopped Smith from joining Borthwick’s first training camp, which took place in Gloucester and contained a mix of skilled players and young talent.

Smith went off midway through the second half of England’s 27-13 defeat to South Africa in the Autumn Nations Cup and is yet to come back to the field. He has previously missed Harlequins’ opening Heineken Champions Cup games against South African side Cell C Sharks and French heavyweights Racing 92, plus a Gallagher Premiership meeting with Bristol at Twickenham on December 27. Harlequins head coach Tabai Matson has told Smith is very close to sending them to military action and could yet start for the England Rugby side in the Guinness Six Nations.

Despite missing the camp, Hugh Gowin reports for iNews that Smith is set to meet Borthwick in person and talk about his future with the national squad. Borthwick, who has earlier stated that he wants to build a physically forceful and dominant squad, will be looking to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the squad and begin executing his vision for the squad.

England Rugby World Cup: Worry for England Rugby Side as Tom limps off in Sale’s win over Harlequins

Smith made his international debut for England Rugby against the USA in 2021, instead of being whisked away to the Lions tour in South Africa and has usually amazed with his Test performances to date. Though, England superstar Owen Farrell has hit a fine vein of form for Saracens and presently looks odds on to return at No.10 under the Borthwick regime.

The training camp also offered an opportunity for Borthwick to get to know his players and build relationships with them as they make for the Six Nations tournament in February and March. England Rugby Side is looking to bounce back after a dreadful Autumn Nations Cup and build momentum ahead of the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.

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