Nathan Hughes set to replace Tom Wood for Fiji Test
Nathan Hughes is set for his first England start
©PA
Wasps back-row Nathan Hughes is set to make his first full-debut for England in the upcoming Old Mutual Wealth series Test against Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday.
The 25-year-old is set to take the place of Northampton Saints flanker Tom Wood, who was dropped from the 25-man squad by England coach Eddie Jones.
Despite, struggling with a lower leg injury, Hughes is expected to take part in Thursday's final training session as confirmed by England scrum coach Neal Hatley.
"Woody did exceptionally well, but we are just looking at it on a game by game basis. Nathan did well when he was on and we want to give him an opportunity potentially," Hatley said.
"Eddie has talked about wanting to make sure that we are looking across the spectrum of players.
"I think that Eddie has gone on record saying that Tom did really well during his match and worked exceptionally hard.
"He has trained very well this week, but we are looking at selection specifically game by game.
"Nathan brings a big ball carrying threat - we've seen what he can do in the Premiership.
"He hits hard and carries the ball well and against Fiji we know that they are going to carry the ball hard, so we need stopping power. It will be a brilliant opportunity for Nathan if he is involved."
The last time these two teams met was during the 2015 World Cup opener and Fiji were trailing England by just seven points until the final quarter where the red rose team riding on tries from Mike Brown and Billy Vunipola took the game away from the visitors ensuring a 35-11 victory for Stuart Lancaster's men. The highlight of the game was Fiji's scrum performance and Hatley said England have done their homework on John McKee's men.
"We've done a lot of analysis on Fiji. They have a Kiwi coach in John McKee and have moved away from just flinging the ball around. Also, their set piece has improved immeasurably," Hatley said.
"Leone Nakarawa, who was at Glasgow and has now moved to France, he's an excellent lineout technician so they're a lot more of a set piece threat than previous years."
