England forced into two squad changes as fallout from Bok loss continues

Northampton Saints loosehead prop Emmanuel Iyogun and Harlequins back-row Chandler Cunningham-South have been called into the England squad ahead of their Nations Championship fixture with Fiji this Saturday at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The pair will replace the duo of Beno Obano and Cadan Murley, who have both been ruled out with injuries.

Obano featured from the bench in the final 25 minutes of England’s 45-21 loss to South Africa at Ellis Park on Saturday, playing until the final whistle. While there was no apparent injury in Johannesburg, an undisclosed injury will render him unavailable for this weekend and possibly the following fixture against Argentina at Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero.

Iyogun, who is fresh from starting in Northampton’s Gallagher PREM final victory over Exeter Chiefs, was narrowly pipped by Obano for a place in Steve Borthwick’s squad, but is now primed to win his first cap for his country against Fiji.

Murley, meanwhile, emerged as an injury doubt after leaving the Ellis Park pitch after 55 minutes. Borthwick confirmed that it was a shoulder injury in the wake of the loss, but was unsure of the extent of the injury.

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The winger has been replaced by his Harlequins team-mate Cunningham-South in what is clearly not a like-for-like replacement.

England have already been forced into changes to their back three, with Tom Roebuck joining the squad in place of George Furbank, who had his appendix removed shortly before the Bok match after originally being named to start. Tom Roebuck took his place in the squad, and with Tommy Freeman a candidate to shift from outside centre to the wing, England’s coaching staff may have thought they have cover on the wings. With that said, a player like Northampton’s George Hendy can feel hard done by that he has been overlooked.

Cunningham-South will provide some much-needed physicality to the England pack, which was a department of the game which they fell short in during vital periods against the Springboks, albeit not the entire match.