Wales are holding their breath over the availability of the fly-half Dan Biggar for their Six Nations match at Twickenham on Saturday after his club coach Chris Boyd said they must “wait and see” if he will be fit.
Biggar, 30, was released to play for Northampton against Saracens over the weekend but was forced off injured after 20 minutes. Boyd described the knee injury as “not serious” but said it was unclear how long he would be out.
“He’s hyper-extended his leg in a collision and seems to be moving relatively OK,” Boyd told BBC Radio Northampton. “I don’t think he’s got any major structural damage from what I’m led to believe so it’s one of those ones we’ll wait and see.”
Biggar’s potential absence would be a major setback for the Wales head coach, Wayne Pivac, who is already missing fly-halves Gareth Anscombe, Rhys Patchell and Owen Williams. If Biggar misses out, the most likely replacement would be Jarrod Evans; on Monday, Sam Davies, the Dragons No 10, joined training but he has yet to be officially called up to the squad.
England, meanwhile, will have Mako Vunipola unexpectedly available after he was named in an extended 34-man training squad. Eddie Jones had stated that Vunipola was unlikely to be in contention for the Grand Slam champions’ visit to Twickenham on Saturday after travelling to Tonga for unspecified personal reasons.
But the powerful Saracens prop is back at England’s Surrey training base ahead of schedule and will compete for loosehead duties with Joe Marler and Ellis Genge.
In a further boost to hopes of snatching the title, wing Anthony Watson and hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie are present among the 34 names who will assemble on Monday.
Watson has yet to appear in the 2020 Six Nations because of a calf injury but he has made progress in his recovery and is now staking a claim for a back three slot for the penultimate round.
Cowan-Dickie, the in-form Exeter hooker, has been in and out of camp throughout the competition and missed the victory over Scotland due to the premature birth of his son.
For the first time in this Six Nations, Jones has picked a third scrum-half behind Ben Youngs and Willi Heinz. Jack Maunder has not been seen since winning his solitary cap on the 2017 tour to Argentina but the Exeter Chief now has the opportunity to force his way into the 23.
Jones has been reluctant to choose a third scrum-half, so Maunder’s presence represents a change in thinking from the head coach. Mark Wilson came through last week’s camp in Oxford and is challenging for a back row spot as he continues his comeback from a knee injury.