Another day, another injury headache for England head coach Eddie Jones to resolve. On Tuesday the problem position switched from blindside flanker to loosehead prop after Saracens revealed that the odds are mounting against Mako Vunipola playing a part in the Six Nations Championship.

Vunipola, who established himself as first choice last year, will see a specialist later this week to assess a knee injury he sustained against Sale Sharks in December. It was initially hoped that the 25-year-old would play some part in the Championship, but Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: “He is going to be back, best case scenario, end of February.”