Scotland vs England: Maro Itoje in line for place on bench at Murrayfield in Six Nations opener

The 21-year-old Londoner will be included in the match-day squad if Courtney Lawes fails to recover from a hamstring injury

Maro Itoje, left, captained Saracens just a week after turning 20 but has yet to make his England debut (Reuters)

Maro Itoje, the uncapped Saracens lock widely heralded as a potential saviour of the England pack that underperformed so badly during last autumn’s World Cup, could be in line for a red-rose debut in Saturday’s Calcutta Cup meeting with Scotland at Murrayfield. The 21-year-old Londoner will be included in the match-day squad if Courtney Lawes fails to recover from a hamstring injury.

Lawes is not expected to train until Thursday, which puts him in the “last chance saloon” category as far as the Six Nations opener is concerned. A year ago, his injury issues might have kept the England management awake into the small hours, but he has not been in vintage form just recently and there are plenty of good judges who think Itoje should have been picked ahead of the Northampton man regardless of his physical state.

Eddie Jones, the new England head coach, released Itoje from the championship training squad this time last week – a sure sign that he was not considering him for Murrayfield duty – but watched the youngster play for Saracens against Bath on Saturday and was impressed by what he saw. Jones is not the sort to get carried away by a single high-quality performance at club level, but Itoje’s display against the West Countrymen was beyond brilliant.

“I went to Saracens and hid at the back of the stand somewhere,” Jones said yesterday. “Itoje was really good, really impressive. It was the best I’ve seen him play.” Was there a chance of him forcing his way into the mix for Edinburgh on merit, or was it too late? “It’s never too late,” the coach replied, smiling enigmatically. “The 23 players we kept back were the front-runners, but they can play themselves out of selection through injury, or through a poor attitude.

“There are subtle but strong differences between a good club player and a good Test player, and it’s my job to make Test players out of people.

“I want Maro to be a 60-cap Test player, not a 10- or 20-cap Test player. People who go on to win 60 caps start well and build on it, and that’s what I want him to do. Some players can be exposed to the international game too late, others too early.

“My gut feeling with Maro is that he’s definitely progressing, but needs just a little more time. You have to be a bloody good player to win 60 caps for England. That’s what we think he’ll be, so we can wait.”

Jones was also happy to speak about Danny Cipriani, the celebrity midfielder who is not currently in the training squad at all. Cipriani is enjoying a productive season with Sale, but decision time is looming: he has been linked with a move to Harlequins, but is also known to be of interest to at least one leading French club. If he takes up the latter option, he will put himself out of the thoughts of the England selectors for the duration of his stay on the far side of the water – and probably for good.

“I speak to Danny quite regularly – we chat all the time,” Jones revealed. “I give him feedback on his games, which he wants, and he knows he’s in the picture. But we can’t pick everyone. The great thing about English rugby is that good players are left out. If we didn’t have to leave out good players, there would be a real problem. I go back to Itoje. If he doesn’t happen to get into the 23 for this weekend, it’s not a sign of conservatism but a sign of health. If he’s one of the best young players in the Premiership and not in the Test team yet, that’s a positive situation.”

There is some evidence that the red-rose boss is up to his old tricks on the “mind games” front: England have yet to play a game under his stewardship, but he is already having some fun with Vern Cotter, his opposite number in Scotland, over who should start as favourites this weekend. To describe Jones as unapologetic would be understating the case.

“You just have to do everything you can to win,” he said, bluntly. “That’s what I’m hired to do. Clive Woodward wasn’t too bad at it, and they made him a knight. It’s an important part of rugby. Warren Gatland [the ultra-successful Wales coach] does it exceedingly well. He’s a champion at it.”

There is a flip side to all this: one player, confidently thought to be a front-rower, has already landed a psychological blow on Jones by pinching a cake lovingly prepared by the catering department for the head honcho’s 56th birthday last weekend. But given England’s desperate lack of pilfering skills when it comes to opposition possession, this might be viewed as a good thing.