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'Won't be a problem': Former teammate weighs in on Mo’unga return
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This is what we know about England's three main injury worries
By Alex Shaw
With just days to go before England kick off their 2018 Six Nations campaign, there are fitness concerns surrounding three of their key players and we bring you the latest update on their availability.
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Maro Itoje was carrying a hip injury into this week of training but the good news for England and Eddie Jones is that it shouldn’t prevent him from taking to the field in Rome on Sunday. The injury is severe bruising and whilst the hip is a painful place to suffer from that, he should be in the starting XV announced by Jones later this week.
Moving on to Chris Robshaw and again, the prognosis is good. A back injury denied him the opportunity of featuring heavily in the side’s pre-tournament Portugal training camp, but he looks set to feature this weekend, having overcome the worst of it.
With England already missing Billy Vunipola and Nathan Hughes through injury and James Haskell through suspension, the availability of the former England captain will be a big fillip for Jones, who was otherwise looking at a very inexperienced back-row.
The last injury concern is the most in doubt for the trip to Rome and that is full-back Mike Brown.
His recovery has been slower than that of Itoje and Robshaw but is still considered probable to start against the Azzurri. He will be monitored closely over the next two days but if no setbacks occur, he should also make the team, giving Jones the luxury of a relatively familiar-looking back-three, even with Elliot Daly out for the tournament.
Stay tuned to RugbyPass for any further updates.
