Elliot Daly is ready and willing to help revive England’s Six Nations campaign in Paris next week. The British & Irish Lions Test wing has not played since damaging an ankle joint in mid-December but is back in full training and, if selected, is confident of being fit to face France.
Daly was injured after landing awkwardly on his left ankle against La Rochelle and a tight calf has also meant he has not played for Wasps or England since. “I’m feeling good; fit and ready to go in my opinion,” said the 25-year-old, who started all three of England’s November Tests, scoring three tries. “It was just a minor calf thing … I was coming back early from my ankle so it’s probably turned out even.
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“I just want to play rugby whatever game there is. Next weekend there isn’t a game for Wasps so I would love to be considered for the France game if possible. I just want to train well, get fit and see what happens..”
England, beaten 25-13 by Scotland at Murrayfield, will gather for training in London this weekend having cut short their camp in Oxford because of the weather. Daly’s lack of match practice would seem to make an instant recall to the starting XV unlikely but Eddie Jones, likes to select players based on what he sees in training. “The training here is suited to getting you back quicker,” Daly said. “We’re at match intensity all the time pushing yourself to the limit. If you can do that then you can do it in a game.
“Eddie chucks us the ball and usually it’s a ‘one shot, one kill’ scenario. If you drop the ball you’re defending.If you train well and make a good impression then you have a chance of being picked.”
Competition for places in the back three is intense, with Mike Brown, Anthony Watson, Jonny May and Jack Nowell vying for three starting berths, and Daly believes the squad will respond swiftly to the Murrayfield defeat. “We are going to lose games but it is how we bounce back from that. The mood is positive.”