Marcus Smith ruled out of England's Six Nations opener

Fly-half Marcus Smith is out of the opening England match of the Guinness Six Nations after picking up a calf injury at their training camp in Girona.

The soon-to-be 25-year-old was flagged as a concern on Monday after being seen on crutches, and England assistant coach Kevin Sinfield has now confirmed his injury although the medics are not yet sure about the extent of the damage.

England will get their latest Six Nations campaign underway next Saturday against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico but they will now have to manage without Smith, who was a contender to start in place of sabbatical-taking Owen Farrell.

Sinfield said it was a "big loss" but highlighted the other players that England have at their disposal who can step up and fill the fly-half position.

The absence of the Harlequins fly-half opens the door for Smith's namesake Fin to make his Test debut this weekend. The 21-year-old has been in scintillating form this season for Northampton and was already in contention to make his debut regardless of the injury to his England teammate Smith.

With the experienced George Ford also in the squad alongside part-time No10s Henry Slade and George Furbank, head coach Steve Borthwick still has options to choose from.

“He [Marcus Smith] won’t make this weekend sadly,” said assistant coach Sinfield to reporters on Tuesday in Spain. “It's a calf injury.

"We got the scan report through but we are waiting to understand exactly what that means for us moving forward. He’s not fit for this weekend.

“It just happened in training, the early part of the session. Just one of those things. The boys have had two days off (for) recovery and Marcus, being the bundle of energy that he is, was doing his thing.

“Unfortunately these things happen. We are gutted for him because he has been amazing to work with and we hope it will not be too long."