Benhard Janse van Rensburg stood down indefinitely; Smith in fitness race

Fin Smith faces a race against time to be fit for England’s autumn opener Australia, but his midfield colleague Benhard Janse van Rensburg will play no part in the campaign.

Head coach Steve Borthwick has revealed Smith will be given until Wednesday to recover from the calf strain sustained on Northampton duty against Leicester on Saturday.

If England’s first-choice fly-half is ruled out, then George Ford or Marcus Smith will be installed as chief conductor for the Wallabies’ visit to Allianz Stadium on November 8.

“Fin has made good progress over the last couple of days and we’re hopeful of his availability against Australia, but that remains unclear at this stage,” Borthwick said.

The outlook on Janse van Rensburg is less positive, with the Bristol centre being stood down from full rugby duties indefinitely.

Van Rensburg has received two significant concussions in his last three games, the most recent of which saw him knocked unconscious when attempting a tackle on England colleague Henry Pollock against Northampton on October 3.

The South African-born centre made his Test debut against Fiji in July but must now wait until the Six Nations to win his third cap after being stood down from the second phase of the Nations Championship next month.

“Benhard has seen a specialist and been advised to take a number of weeks of non-contact work before his reintroduction to rugby over the coming weeks,” Borthwick said.

Flanker Guy Pepper will also miss the Tests against Australia, Japan and New Zealand, as well as finals weekend, because of the ankle injury he sustained playing for Bath against Gloucester on Friday.

There is better news over Seb Atkinson (knee) and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (hamstring), however, with both players on course to be available for Gloucester and Exeter respectively this weekend.

England’s Leicester and Northampton contingent entered camp on Sunday, just 24 hours after engaging in a giant bust-up at half-time of a stormy East Midlands derby.

Tigers lock Ollie Chessum and Saints number eight Pollock were at the heart of the brawl and Borthwick wants to see the same commitment to the jersey at Twickenham this autumn.

“To be clear, nothing overtly illegal,” Borthwick said. “Do I like seeing intensity, passion, pride? Yes. Do I want the players to bring that passion and pride in an England shirt? Absolutely.

“These are young players who have grown up at their clubs and emerged as big players at their clubs. I want that in an England shirt.

“What I think is very good is that the players compete in the way they do one day and then they can come in and be great mates the next day. Ollie and Henry are great mates.

“I actually think it’s a real strength of the game to be able to compete like that in that kind of full-blooded encounter, as heated as that is, and then they’re perfectly fine.”

Borthwick has told his players this autumn will be instrumental in selection for next year’s World Cup.

“We’ve got 12 Tests now until the World Cup,” he said. “There are 10 Tests until I name our 33-man squad.

“This series of games is the last opportunity we have playing southern hemisphere opposition before then.

“I’m looking forward to seeing players compete and perform against this calibre of opposition.”