England have suffered a late set-back at their training camp in Portugal with Anthony Watson’s prospects of facing France next week in jeopardy after the wing picked up a hamstring injury.

Watson will undergo a scan tomorrow morning to assess the extent of the damage, but it is thought unlikely he will recover in time to face the French, although it is hoped he will be available for selection against Wales the following weekend.

Watson, who suffered the injury in a sprint session, will be devastated if it is confirmed that he is out of the opening round of the 2017 RBS Six Nations Championship as he has only just regained full match fitness after three months on the sidelines recuperating from a broken jaw.

That injury was also picked up at an England training camp, the two-day session in Brighton in early October. Watson, who had been a regular fixture on the England wing up to that point, returned to play on New Year’s Eve and had professed himself to be in great shape. Instead Eddie Jones’ thoughts will inevitably turn back towards Jonny May, the Gloucester speedster who came back into the reckoning for the autumn series, scoring two tries in his three appearances.