England sweating on playmaker's availability

INJURY UPDATE: England head coach Steve Borthwick will be holding thumbs that one of his key playmakers will be available for their clash against Fiji this weekend at Allianz Stadium.

Doubts have emerged over Freddie Steward’s fitness, with Borthwick facing a potentially tricky selection decision if the Leicester fullback is unavailable.

Steward suffered a hand injury during England’s 25-7 win at home to Australia last weekend in their opening Nations Series international.

The 24-year-old, renowned for his ability under the high ball, finished the match but did not train on Monday and is also expected to miss Tuesday’s session.

That would leave him with just a couple of days to prove his fitness should Borthwick announce his team to play Fiji on Thursday as scheduled.

Two alternative fullbacks in George Furbank and Elliot Daly are both currently injured, leaving the likes of Marcus Smith, Tommy Freeman and Tom Roebuck as candidates for the No.15 shirt.

Both Roebuck (wing) and Freeman (outside centre) featured against Australia, while Smith, primarily a flyhalf but with Test caps at fullback to his credit, did not even make the matchday 23 that played the Wallabies.

Fiji, ninth in the world rankings, are on paper the weakest side England will face in a November campaign that also sees New Zealand and Argentina visiting Twickenham.

A match against the Pacific islanders could allow Borthwick to experiment with No.8 Ben Earl at inside centre as England look to increase their positional flexibility ahead of the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

Deploying loose forward Henry Pollock, who came off the bench to score a match-clinching try against the Wallabies, on the wing is another option.

Earl, player of the match against the Wallabies, is ready to make the switch if needed.

“It’s a massive strength of our squad and hopefully it is a strength of myself,” said the Saracens loose forward.

“We have got a lot of boys now who could do a good job anywhere. Henry could do a very good job on the wing. Ted Hill, when he was involved, was very, very fast as well.

“A good game as a No.12 or a No.13 and a good game as a backrow – it’s scary how aligned they are.

“The best inside centres, best sevens openside flankers, best No.8’s – they almost all have the same skill set. It is going to become the norm.”

Earl added: “If I were ever to play No.12, Steve would just want me to be myself and bring what I can bring.

The moment you start losing a bit of your self-identity and start trying to shoehorn yourself into a different role, you lose what you bring.”