Monday 5 February 2018 12:45, UK
Danny Care is aiming to grasp his opportunity to become England's most capped scrum-half as a starter, by filling the void left by Ben Youngs.
Youngs is expected to miss the next Six Nations match against Wales and possibly the remainder of the tournament, after suffering knee ligament damage in Sunday's 46-15 opening win over Italy.
The Leicester half-back will undergo a scan upon the squad's return to their Surrey training base, with an update due on Monday evening.
Care stepped off the bench to equal Matt Dawson's record of 77 caps won in the number nine jersey and, with Youngs all but ruled out of the Twickenham appointment with Wales, a place in the starting XV awaits.
"You never want to see a bad injury like that and I was gutted to see Ben in so much pain," said Care.
"First thing's first, he's a good mate as well as a competitor for the shirt. He's in pain and all our thoughts are with him.
"Hopefully, the scan will bring as good as news as we can hope and all the boys are thinking of him.
"He was in the changing room after the game and was still in good spirits, we're just hoping it will be good news.
"It would be great to get into the number nine shirt for the Wales game having had 70 minutes under my belt which is great because I love being out there with the boys."
Scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth is expected to be summoned as additional cover, and the new arrival will take part in Monday's training session.
England will face Wales buoyed by their seven-try rout of a competitive but outclassed Azzurri that saw Anthony Watson and Sam Simmonds cross twice each in a winning start to their title defence.
Warren Gatland's men, also brimming with confidence, overcame the loss of a host of Test British and Irish Lions to beat Scotland 34-7 and ramp up expectations for their visit to Twickenham.
"Hopefully we can hit the ground running from where we left off against Italy," Care said.
"The Welsh game was very entertaining and we cannot wait to get back to our home patch at Twickenham and welcome them with open arms.
"They'll be on a high and we will look at what we did well against Italy and what we can work on for Saturday because we know we have to step up to another level.
"We're going to have to play really well to snuff out all of the Welsh threats while causing them some problems. When Wales are playing like that it's great rugby to watch."
