Lancaster hopeful of Morgan return

England coach Stuart Lancaster is hopeful Ben Morgan will recover from his ankle injury in time to play some part in the on-going Six Nations tournament.

Morgan was injured in England's victory over Scotland in the opening round of fixtures and has been ruled out for this weekend's France clash, but Lancaster believes the Gloucester No.8 could return against Italy on March 10.

The 23-year-old has been joined on the sidelines by Gloucester flyhalf Freddie Burns, who is struggling with a knee injury, and Lancaster revealed he would also miss the France match.

"Morgan and Burns are making slow progress," Lancaster said on Monday.

"Freddie is further down the line, but they won't play this weekend so it will be another week or so.

"Ben will be fine. It's an ankle injury similar to the one Manu Tuilagi had. Manu was out for four or five weeks and Ben will be about the same.

"He wants to get himself right so he can push for selection against Italy."

Meanwhile, centre Jonathan Joseph has been ruled out for two weeks with a toe injury, but full-back Ben Foden has made good progress in his battle with ankle damage and will play for Northampton against Bath on Saturday.

Flyhalf Toby Flood and flank James Haskell missed training on Monday because of a tight calf and flu respectively.

France will travel to Twickenham on the back of successive defeats to Italy and Wales that triggered heavy criticism of coach Philippe Saint-Andre.

However, Lancaster refused to write off the French and insisted they remain formidable opposition.

"If you look at their performances in the autumn, the three wins over Samoa, Argentina and Australia show they are not a bad side," he said.

"They beat Australia 33-6 and Australia then beat us. While we'll take something out of their first two Six Nations games, we'll also take something out of those autumn internationals and make sure we're ready for them."

AFP