Wigglesworth replaces injury-stricken Youngs

England have called up Richard Wigglesworth to replace the injured Ben Youngs for Saturday’s Natwest Six Nations clash with Wales.

Youngs suffered knee ligament damage in the seven-try rout of Italy on Sunday and will miss at least the Twickenham showdown with Warren Gatland’s men and possibly the entire tournament. The Leicester scrumhalf ’s name was missing fromthe32summoned to England’s Surrey training base, confirming Wigglesworth will provide cover for Danny Care as a replacement against Wales. A scan undertaken yesterday afternoon will determine Youngs’ fate and it is also an important week for Nathan Hughes, who is to be assessed by medics to see whether he will play any role in this Six Nations. His participation is threatened by a knee injury sustained in December, although the Fijian-born No 8 was expected to be back for the latter rounds.

The absence of Billy Vunipola, who will sit out the entire Championship with his own knee problem, will mean Hughes’ availability would be a substantial boost, even if Sam Simmonds demonstrated in Rome that he is an exciting alternative.

Care hopes Youngs’ misfortune will enable him to become England’s most capped scrum-half as a starter. Care stepped off the bench to equal Matt Dawson’s record of 77 Red Rose appearances in the No 9 jersey and with Youngs stricken when his knee buckled awkwardly beneath him during a tackle, a place in the starting XV now awaits.

“You never want to see a bad injury like that and I was gutted to see Ben in so much pain,” Care said. “First thing’s first, he’s a good mate as well as a competitor for the shirt.”