Six Nations 2024: Marcus Smith will miss England's opener against Italy after injury leaves fly-half on crutches

Marcus Smith will miss England’s Six Nations opener against Italy on Saturday after sustaining an injury in training.

The fly-half left England’s training base in Girona on crutches on Monday to have a scan and England subsequently confirmed the 24-year-old's absence.

England assistant coach Kevin Sinfield said: "[Marcus] won't make this weekend, sadly.

"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."

Steve Borthwick must plan for Saturday’s match without the Harlequins star, opening the door to George Ford or a potential debut for Northampton Saints’ Fin Smith.

England were already short in the fly-half department after Owen Farrell made himself unavailable for personal reasons.

On top of that, Borthwick has had to deal with more selection headaches after Ollie Lawrence and Manu Tuilagi were both sidelined through injury.

The England coach is expected to hand out a number of new caps for debutants on Saturday, with Northampton’s Fraser Dingwall an option for inside centre.

Newly-appointed captain Jamie George is confident in whoever Borthwick decides to pick for the trip to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

"I've been so impressed with what I've seen from the boys," George said in the lead-up to Saturday’s opener.

“I kind of knew that coming into camp because of the way the English teams have performed and the competition in the Premiership.

"The excitement and the opportunity in this squad is phenomenal. I've always said this team is going to take off after the World Cup."

England will be eager to get off to a good start against Italy, before returning to Twickenham for the first time since a shock defeat to Fiji in the build-up to the World Cup in France, to host Wales.

George has already spoken this week about his goal to make Twickenham a fortress, as he wishes to emulate the success of the England cricket team in his debut tournament as skipper.

England will name their squad to face Italy on Thursday evening.

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