Overview
- Ollie Lawrence has been sent back to Bath for knee rehabilitation, removing him from England’s 36-man squad for Rome on March 7.
- The centre missed the first three rounds, returned against Ireland on February 21, then had a knee injection last week without sufficient recovery.
- Tommy Freeman is viewed as the leading option to shift to outside centre, with Henry Slade also in contention and Seb Atkinson available.
- Scrum-half Alex Mitchell is out for the remainder of the championship with a hamstring injury, with Jack van Poortvliet set to start and Raffi Quirke drafted in.
- England are fourth in the Six Nations with two matches to play and are level on five points with Italy.