• Saracens scandal sure to leave mark on Six Nations• Jones can pick
England players from Championship ClubsEngland are poised to kick off the Six Nations without Billy Vunipola after the No 8 sustained a suspected broken forearm in the opening minutes of Saracens’ Champions Cup pool win against Racing 92. Eddie Jones is also having to deal with the continuing fallout from the salary cap saga as he prepares to unveil his squad for the tournament.
Vunipola, 27, played in every game of England’s
World Cup campaign but is facing another lengthy lay-off with what his club fears is his fourth fractured forearm in two years. Previously he has broken his right arm twice and his left once. “It looks like a suspected broken arm,” the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, said.