Nowell blow Winger set to miss Australia Test

Jack Nowell is set to miss England’s game with Australia on Saturday at Twickenham after suffering a hamstring injury in training. The Exeter winger was likely to start after Chris Ashton suffered a calf problem against Japan but has now gone down injured himself and appears almost certain to be left out of Eddie Jones’ side when it is announced today. That is likely to mean Joe Cokanasiga keeps his place after a try-scoring debut against the Japanese last weekend. One of Manu Tuilagi or Piers Francis is set to be on the bench.

towards whether he is ready or not. That’s obviously for Eddie to address. But if I was looking at it, it would be influenced by those considerations.”

Australia, too, have their own late selection call over David Pocock, whom the Wallabies say suffered a neck injury against Italy. England, however, are far from convinced those reports are legitimate. “We’re not reading too much into David Pocock’s injury stuff. It could be a play from them to get us to take our eye off the ball,” Mitchell said. “Nothing changes, we expect him to be there on Saturday.”

Flanker Brad Shields, who is likely to return to the back row after sitting out the 35-15 victory against Japan, will be among those tasked with neutralising Pocock’s threat. “He is the best jackaler, or ball stealer, in the world,” Shields said. “We have our work cut out this weekend. How we take him out of the game has been a big focus.”