Six Nations: Ellis Genge in injury scare to hand England a fresh concern ahead of Wales Grand Slam eliminator

England are already without Mako Vunipola for the rest of the tournament and saw their front-row problems deepen as Leicester prop Genge limped out of training with an ankle injury

England’s front-row injury problems took another turn for the worse on Thursday as Ellis Genge was forced to withdraw from training, just two days after first-choice loosehead prop Mako Vunipola was ruled out of the rest of the Six Nations.

Genge was named in the 25-man squad that convened in Kensington this week to prepare for their third-round fixture against Wales, a clash that has been labelled a Grand Slam eliminator as the last two remaining unbeaten sides meet in Cardiff next Saturday.

But the Leicester Tigers prop suffered an ankle injury in training on Thursday morning, and a decision was taken by head coach Eddie Jones and his coach staff to remove him from the session.

“Ellis Genge in training today reported a sore ankle so he was withdrawn from training,” confirmed forwards coach Steve Borthwick.

“He reported the ankle so we said ‘right stop training, we won't push that’. We don't think there will be any major consequences. It's (an) ongoing (issue) and it was the right decision to ensure he didn't finish training.”

While Borthwick is hopeful that the injury will not prove anything serious, it is still a big concern given the loss of Vunipola, who had been one of the form players across the first two rounds of the Six Nations. The Saracens loosehead suffered damage to his ankle ligaments in his left leg that will sideline him for up to 10 weeks, which robs England boss Jones of one of his first names on the teamsheet, and leaves Ben Moon and Genge – as well as the likely addition of Alec Hepburn next week – battling it out for the No 1 shirt.

“Mako's play has been exceptional. He's grown and grown over the years,” Borthwick said of what England lose in Vunipola’s absence.

“He has a presence. He doesn't talk an awful lot, but when he does people listen. They pay attention. It's all about presence and he backs that up on the field. He has enormous respect from his team-mates.

“It's disappointing because he's a very good player. But we've also got some very good loosehead props in Ben Moon, look at the way he played in November, and while Genge left training today he's also an excellent player.”

Ellis Genge suffered an ankle injury in England training on Thursday (Getty)

On top of the 25 players in camp, both Maro Itoje and Dylan Hartley attended Thursday’s session to continue their rehabilitation from knee injuries, and although Hartley looks certain to miss out on the Wales clash, Itoje could yet recover to play a part in the squad.

“Maro's progressing well each day,” said Borthwick. “He's working exceptionally hard as you'd expect from him. He's doing everything possible that he can to recover as quickly as possible. He's on track to be back on the field in the latter part of the tournament. He's healing fast and we'll looking at it on a day by day basis.”