Tuesday 17 January 2017 10:00, UK
Eddie Jones believes England's injury woes could help the squad in their quest to win the World Cup in 2019.
Influential back-row pair Billy Vunipola and Chris Robshaw will miss the Six Nations with injuries, while loosehead props Mako Vunipola and Joe Marler have been ruled out of at least the first two rounds.
They are not Jones' only injury concerns in his forward pack, with second-row George Kruis unlikely to recover from a fractured cheekbone to play for Saracens against Toulon on Saturday, while flanker James Haskell is recovering from being knocked out making a tackle 35 seconds into his long-awaited comeback from a toe injury.
Jones, however, is far from concerned and sees this as the perfect opportunity to develop the depth he feels he will need if he is to build a squad capable of winning the World Cup.
"To win the World Cup, you need 31 Test-class players," Jones told Sky Sports News HQ. "That means you have players who have played at the highest level and have proven themselves under pressure.
"These injuries give us a chance to develop more talent."
One further question mark for England is captain Dylan Hartley, who faces the prospect of going into England’s opening Six Nations game against France on February 4 with just six minutes of rugby under his belt in two months after serving a six-week ban for a stiff-arm tackle on Leinster's Sean O’Brien.
Hartley has been put on a strict training regime to make up for his lack of competitive action and Jones is pleased with how he is progressing.
Jones said: "I have never seen him in better physical condition. He is training very hard. He is going to have a game-like training session tomorrow I believe and we will see how fit he is.
"We are anticipating that he is going to be right and ready to go for the Six Nations."
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