Spencer in race to final after Heinz injury blow

in Tokyo

Ben Spencer, the Saracens scrumhalf, looks likely to make a dramatic appearance in the World Cup final after being called into the England squad as an injury replacement for Willi Heinz.

Spencer, 27, who has won three caps, will arrive in Tokyo today and is certain to go straight into the 23-man match-day squad for Saturday’s final, as Heinz is one of only two scrum-halves in the touring party.

Heinz suffered a hamstring injury after coming on as a 63rdminute replacement for Ben Youngs in Saturday’s semi-final win. He will remain with the squad until the end of the tournament.

The decision by Eddie Jones, the England head coach, to include only two scrum-halves in his original 31-man squad left him short of cover, although George Ford has also practised as a nine during the pre-tournament training sessions.

Spencer, who is unlikely to be able to train until Wednesday because of jet-lag protocols, will have little time to get up to speed with England’s playbook or defensive system. He is unlikely to have fully recovered from jet lag by Saturday.

He is, however, a quality replacement, one of the standout players from Saracens’ Premiership and European Cup double-winning campaign last season, and was considered unfortunate not to have made the original party.

His most recent appearance for England was in March’s dramatic 38-38 draw with Scotland.

Spencer could be called upon to emulate the impact of New Zealand fly-half Stephen Donald, who had been left out of Graham Henry’s World Cup squad in 2011, only to receive a late call-up for the final against France. He came on as a replacement for Aaron Cruden and kicked the tournament-winning penalty as the All Blacks edged the match 8-7.

Former England fly-half Paul Grayson, who is working in Japan as an analyst for BBC Radio 5 Live, said picking only two scrum-halves was “one of Jones’s rolls of the dice”.

He added: “It takes six, seven, eight days to get over the jet lag. Could he have been better prepared by being involved with the squad more often? It’s certainly not ideal.”

England have several other injury concerns ahead of the final against South Africa, with Owen Farrell and Jonny May each recovering from a dead leg, and prop Kyle Sinckler having a calf issue.