London – Number eight Ben Morgan will again be missing from the England team for Saturday's Six Nations clash with Wales at the Millennium Stadium.
Morgan suffered an ankle injury during the opening-day victory over Scotland and had initially been expected to return against Italy on Sunday.
However, he played no part in the 18-11 win at Twickenham, and now head coach Stuart Lancaster has revealed he will also miss the match that will decide whether England win the Grand Slam.
“Ben will stay at Gloucester this week. We knew his ankle would take six to eight weeks and he won't make it in time,” Lancaster said.
Lancaster is optimistic that locks Joe Launchbury, Geoff Parling and Courtney Lawes will recover from their respective elbow, shoulder and arm injuries to play in Cardiff.
Owen Farrell is fit to train having Owen Farrell is fit to train having recovered from his quad injury and is expected to be restored at fly-half.
Meanwhile, Lancaster admits that England must improve from their lacklustre showing against the Italians if they are to make it five wins from five in Wales.
“We have had a chance to review the game and there were lots of areas we were pleased with, but I wouldn't call it a blessing in disguise,” he said.
“I'm not of the mindset as a coach that I'd want to not get areas right in order to get ourselves in the right place to play a game. We've definitely got plenty to work on.
“It's a massive game because of the context of the result, which is huge for both teams,” he said of the match at the Millennium Stadium, with England playing for the Grand Slam and Wales the title.
“We're a young team and a lot of our players haven't played there before, so going to that type of environment is exactly the test we want.” – Sapa-AFP