Ollie Chessum ruled out of England’s Six Nations finale against Ireland

England’s hopes of gatecrashing Ireland’s grand slam party in Dublin on Saturday have been hit by the loss of Ollie Chessum to an ankle problem.

Chessum sustained the injury in training on Tuesday and while no timeframe has been given for his return, he will definitely sit out the the climax to the Six Nations.

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The 22-year-old nine-cap international has overshadowed more established second-row partner Maro Itoje throughout the tournament on account of his work rate and impact across the field. But his breakthrough Six Nations is over in a significant setback for England, who will now choose between David Ribbans, Nick Isiekwe, George Martin and Jonny Hill for his replacement at the Aviva Stadium.

“Ollie will be a huge loss. He’s been great for us. We’ve played him in the second row but he covers back row for us as well,” the defence coach, Kevin Sinfield, said.

Chessum is the second starter from Saturday’s record-breaking 53-10 defeat by France to miss out against the world’s No 1 ranked team after centre Ollie Lawrence was struck down by hamstring damage.

For the first time in this Six Nations, Borthwick will approach Thursday’s team announcement with three fly-halves in contention after Marcus Smith, Owen Farrell and George Ford were retained in a reduced 30-man squad.