ITOJE SIX NATIONS BLOW

MARO ITOJE is a major doubt for England’s crunch Six Nations opener against Ireland on February 2 because he has chipped a bone in his knee. And the Saracens lock, 24, could even face a race to be fit for matches later in the tournament. Itoje picked up the injury while training in Portugal with England, who managed the problem but were not aware of the extent of it. Itoje then starred in all four autumn Tests before returning to Saracens to play 69 minutes last Saturday against Wasps. He is now expected to be out for six to eight weeks.