James Haskell and Jack Clifford to join England training camp in Portugal

England have received much needed boost ahead of the Six Nations tournament with James Haskell and Jack Clifford joining the training camp in Portugal to prove their fitness.

Both Haskell and Clifford sustained toe and chest injuries respectively, making them a doubtful starter for the tournament opener against France on 4th February at Twickenham.

The 31-year-old first suffered the injury during the Test series in Australia last summer and then underwent a surgery which kept him out of action for seven months. On his return for his club Wasps in the Aviva Premiership encounter against Leicester Tigers, he was knocked out by a tackle from full-back Freddie Burns restricting his comeback game to just 35 seconds.

Meanwhile, Clifford's injury happened when he was playing for Harlequins in the recently concluded European Challenge Cup encounter against Stade Francais but now is set to take the field against Guy Noves' men.

"This is good news. It's a real boost for the squad because they're well liked members who will add to what we have," head coach Eddie Jones said.

"On Thursday we'll appraise both of them and see where they're at and see how much training they can do and see if they're available for that first game against France.

"I'll have to look at them when they come in and talk to the medical staff. We'll make a decision then."