Bath pair George Ford and Jonathan Joseph are unlikely to feature for England in their next fixture against Wales on Saturday. Both players started in England’s first game of the World Cup against Fiji on the opening day of the tournament.
Chris Jones writing for BBC Sport reports that Bath fly-half George Ford will be dropped for the game against Wales with Owen Farrell coming in to replace him. This move by Stuart Lancaster comes as a shock following Ford’s impressive displays for England over the last year. During Ford’s 11 games for his England, they have only been outscored on tries once, against Ireland in Dublin.
Jonathan Joseph will miss the clash with Wales following a chest injury that he sustained against Fiji last week. Joseph is one of England’s most dangerous running backs and previously scored four tries in England’s last Six Nations Campaign.
England coach Andy Farrell expects, however, that Joseph won’t be out for “more than a week” because his injury was “nothing too serious”.
With Joseph out, Stuart Lancaster is expected to play Joseph’s Bath teammate Sam Burgess in the centre to help deal with the physicality that the Welsh backs offer.
