England suffer Hughes and Lawes blow ahead of final round of Six Nations Championship
Eddie Jones has lost two players to injury
©PA
England's ongoing Six Nations Championship campaign has taken a further blow with Nathan Hughes and Courtney Lawes ruled out of the final round against Ireland due to knee injuries.
Hughes left the field in the 23rd minute during the game against France in Paris last weekend while Lawes, who was able to complete the game has now missed out on the 32-man training squad announced for the final encounter against Joe Schmidt's side.
Exeter's Don Armand, whose only appearance for the red rose team came during the summer tour of Argentina last year has been added as a cover while Nick Isiekwe and Charlie Ewels are likely to fight it out to take the place of Lawes.
The fresh injuries also might give an opportunity for James Haskell and Sam Simmonds to feature back into the starting line-up after being on the bench against France.
Meanwhile, England captain Dylan Hartley is expected to be fit in time for the game against Ireland after missing out the Paris encounter due to a calf strain but Elliot Daly's participation is in doubt after the Wasps' star will head for a precautionary scan on Monday.
“Dylan ran this morning (Monday) but we need to get a medical report on him,” head coach Eddie Jones said.
“I expect him to be available but we’ll just have to wait and see. If he’s fit then he’ll be playing.”
England 32-man squad:
Backs: M Brown (Harlequins), D Care (Harlequins), E Daly (Wasps), N Earle (Saracens), O Farrell (Saracens), G Ford (Leicester Tigers), J Joseph (Bath Rugby), A Lozowski (Saracens), J May (Leicester Tigers), H Slade (Exeter Chiefs), M Smith (Harlequins), D Solomona (Sale Sharks), B Te’o (Worcester Warriors), A Watson (Bath Rugby), R Wigglesworth (Saracens).
Forwards: D Armand (Exeter Chiefs), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), L Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), C Ewels (Bath Rugby), J George (Saracens), D Hartley (Northampton Saints), J Haskell (Wasps), A Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs), N Isiekwe (Saracens), M Itoje (Saracens), G Kruis (Saracens), J Launchbury (Wasps), J Marler (Harlequins), C Robshaw (Harlequins), S Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs), K Sinckler (Harlequins), M Vunipola (Saracens).
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