Marcus Smith out of England’s Six Nations opener with calf injury

England are reeling from the loss of Marcus Smith for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations opener against Italy because of a calf problem.

Smith suffered the injury at the squad’s training camp in Girona on Monday and England are waiting for a second opinion on the scan before confirming a return date, raising the possibility that he could miss additional matches.

The 24-year-old was in strong contention to start the Rome showdown at fly-half, competing with George Ford and Fin Smith for the jersey. Marcus Smith was hoping to nail down the fly-half jersey in this Six Nations

Marcus Smith was hoping to nail down the fly-half jersey in this Six Nations

“He won’t make this weekend sadly,” assistant coach Kevin Sinfield told reporters.

“It is a calf injury. We got the scan report through but we are waiting to understand exactly what that means for us moving forward. He’s not fit for this weekend.

“It just happened in training, the early part of the session. Just one of those things. The boys have had two days off (for) recovery and Marcus being the bundle of energy that he is was doing his thing.

“Unfortunately these things happen. We are gutted for him because he’s been amazing to work with and we hope it will not be too long.”