England sweat on Joseph and Morgan fitness

The Gloucester number eight suffered a knee injury in England’s 35-11 victory over Fiji.

Backs coach Andy Farrell remains unsure whether Joseph will be able to take his place alongside Brad Barritt against the Welsh but has allayed fears that the injury may be long term.

“It’s something and nothing”.

Lancaster has several options to replace Joseph, with Henry Slade and Sam Burgess the other specialist centres in his squad while fly-half Owen Farrell has got experience of playing at centre. If he is fit for this weekend, we will know by tomorrow internally.

Slade will never offer the raw speed and elusive footwork of Joseph, but if England already know that the Bath centre won’t make it, then a one-cap 22-year-old might be their best replacement.

Ben Morgan must also come through a fitness test on Wednesday after taking a bang to the knee, although if he fails to recover the contingency plan is far simpler than for the midfield – Billy Vunipola will start and James Haskell will be elevated to the bench. We’ll leave them unnamed. Some guys will train today, some guys won’t train today.

“It will be a shame to miss JJ, but we will see how it progresses now with the medics”, said Barritt.

“We’ve still got a couple of knocks”.

Having had to bide his time behind Manu Tuilagi, he seized his chance during the Six Nations, proving himself to be one of, if not the best outside centre in the northern hemisphere.

“Everyone gets super-excited about the centre partnership but it’s about the balance of the whole team”.

“We were confident when we picked the 31-man squad that everyone could do a job for us and we have to make sure everyone is comfortable in starting”.

“We want to see accurate decisions, so we just get on with it”, he said, refusing to be drawn into a debate that vexed many a fan and commentator after the hosts’ scratchy win.

“Everyone was right behind us all the way through against Fiji”. Farrell said.

“‘I’ve absolutely no doubt Warren will be doing that”. We want to impose our game on Wales from the first whistle too. Predictions and form in games like this go out the window. If these reports are founded, there is certainly going to be a lot of pressure on Stuart Lancaster for England to deliver a result on Saturday night.

Much has been made of the home advantage England will have at Twickenham, and Warburton is all toO aware of the impact the crowd can have.