England’s already-depleted squad have suffered a double injury blow as it was confirmed scrum-half Natasha Hunt and second row Morwenna Talling are out of the remainder of their Women’s Six Nations title defence.
Both Hunt and Talling suffered leg injuries in the 33-12 victory over Ireland in Twickenham on Saturday, leaving Allianz Stadium on crutches.
Head coach John Mitchell has opted against direct positional replacements, with Trailfinders’ uncapped 21-year-old back row Haidee Head and Saracens’ Sydney Gregson, who plays both centre and wing and won her most recent cap against France in the 2024 Six Nations, being called up in their place.
Hunt was England’s first-choice scrum-half through the Rugby World Cup-winning campaign last year, while Talling had been set for a key role during the Six Nations with fellow locks Zoe Stratford, Abbie Ward and Rosie Galligan all pregnant.
England are stretched at scrum-half, but still have Lucy Packer, who started the World Cup final in 2022 and was picked ahead of Hunt to start against Ireland, backed up by Exeter’s Flo Robinson and the versatile Claudia Moloney-MacDonald. Helena Rowland has also trained at nine.
However, with Talling joining those on the sidelines, there is a real dearth of experience at second row.
Lilli Ives Campion, who has only six caps, is the most senior of the second-row options in Mitchell’s squad.
Nineteen-year-old Haineala Lutui, who usually plays back row, was brought off the bench to replace Talling and win her first cap against Ireland.
Bristol duo Demelza Short and Christiana Balogun and Saracens’ Jodie Verghese are also options at second row, but none have yet made their senior England debut.
England could instead deploy one of their back rows alongside Ives Campion, with Alex Matthews and Maddie Feaunati the likeliest candidates.
