Smith and Farrell may pair up again for England after Kelly is ruled out of Scotland clash

Steve Borthwick may turn to the midfield alliance of Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell after all, as England’s new coach lost another centre to injury on Monday.

With four days to go until the Six Nations opener against Scotland, the withdrawal of uncapped Leicester prospect Dan Kelly with a thigh injury further limits Borthwick’s options. Another Tiger, Guy Porter, has been called up as cover but will struggle to push himself into contention for a start at such short notice.

Midfield has become a problem area for Borthwick. Elliot Daly of Saracens is out of the entire Championship after damaging his hamstring while Henry Slade has a hip injury and will miss the Scotland match.

England may turn to the midfield pairing of Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell for Scotland clash

Now Kelly — key to Leicester’s Premiership title success last season — is out, leaving captain Farrell, who had been expected to start at fly-half, as an option at 12.

Manu Tuilagi, Joe Marchant and Ollie Lawrence are the other centres vying for places in the starting XV.

Meanwhile, the RFU confirmed they made a profit of £15million for the year 2021-22, in some rare good news for the governing body. The RFU’s latest annual report also revealed chief executive Bill Sweeney was paid £668,000 in that period, despite widespread criticism of his management.