Wednesday 25 January 2017 16:09, UK
Eddie Jones is pleased James Haskell will join England's squad in Portugal on Thursday as doubts continue over his Six Nations availability.
Haskell played for Wasps in Saturday's Champions Cup victory over Zebre but reported soreness afterwards on the toe injury which forced him to miss seven months this season.
Harlequins flanker Jack Clifford and Haskell stayed in England when the rest of the squad flew to Portugal for a final training camp but they will join the group later on Wednesday.
"This is good news. It's a real boost for the squad because they're well liked members who will add to what we have," Jones said.
"On Thursday we'll appraise both of them and see where they're at and see how much training they can do and see if they're available for that first game against France.
"I'll have to look at them when they come in and talk to the medical staff. We'll make a decision then.
"[Haskell] Having had a serious foot injury, there are always going to be these concerns after playing so we just have to manage him well.
"We are hopeful. He is in the Six Nations squad. Whether he plays in the first game we will wait and see but certainly he is going to be a contributor during the campaign."
However, loosehead prop Joe Marler and second row George Kruis are recovering well from a leg fracture and fractured cheekbone respectively, and Jones is happy with the progress they are making.
"Marler and Kruis are really progressing well," Jones told Sky Sports News HQ earlier on Wednesday. "We would be hopeful they might join team training by the end of the week possibly. That's really positive."
England hit the headlines this week with news the squad's visual awareness coach Sherylle Calder told the players to ditch their mobile phones in order to improve their performance.
Jones explained his reasons for authorising the unusual move and explained the detrimental effect looking into a mobile phone screen can have for a rugby player's vision.
"It is not about using your mobile phones," Jones explained. "That is a great headline. It is about the fact that mobile phones aren't good for your vision.
"But we know people use mobile phones so it is about how do we detrain various aspects of your vision that are trained on the mobile phone.
"When you look at a mobile phone you are looking in tight. We want players to look wide so all our training is about increasing the vision."
Haskell may be the England player hit hardest given his propensity for social media and large following on Instagram but Jones insists he will still have ample opportunity to provide updates for his fans.
When asked about the Wasps man, Jones said with a smile: "Oh he can still do his Instagrams and still be very active on the computer!"
