Injury rules Anthony Watson out of World Cup as England's woes mount

England coach Steve Borthwick said Watson would be out for weeks, opening the door for a return to the team for Jonny May.

May was picked earlier on Thursday to start on the wing against Fiji in Saturday's final warm-up test despite being left out of the 33-man World Cup squad named earlier this month.

“In the game against Ireland, Anthony Watson suffered an injury to his calf which means he can’t play for a number of weeks,” Borthwick said on Thursday.

“As such he will not be part of the 33 that travels to France next week. We are all really disappointed for him.”

Watson’s withdrawal is a desperate blow for a player who has battled back from long-term knee and Achilles tendon injuries, and follows an ankle injury to scrumhalf Jack van Poortvliet, who has been replaced in the squad by Alex Mitchell, and bans for both captain Owen Farrell and No. 8 Billy Vunipola.

Vunipola, who is the only specialist eighthman picked in the squad by Borthwick, sits out England’s World Cup opener against Argentina in Marseille on September 9th while Farrell will miss that game, as well as England’s next in Pool D against Japan in Nice on September 17th.

Both were banned after being red-carded for high tackles in England’s preparatory internationals over the last weeks.

Borthwick, who can still make changes to his World Cup squad before Monday’s submission deadline, said utility back Elliot Daly has a knee injury and is unavailable for the Fiji test but expected to be fit for France, while wing Henry Arundell is recovering from a back spasm.

Tom Curry’s ankle injury has meant he missed all of England’s warm-up tests this month.