George Farbank: England full-back out of Nations Championship opener vs South Africa with appendicitis Rugby Union News

George Farbank is out of England’s Nations Championship opener against South Africa in Johannesburg on Saturday with appendicitis and could miss the entire summer tour.

The full-back, who is set to make his first England appearance in almost two years, was taken to hospital on Friday evening, with Marcus Smith now likely to replace him in the XV for the 4.40pm UK time kick-off.

Furbank is also doubtful for the games against Fiji on July 11 and Argentina on July 18.

England team to face South Africa:

XV Start: 15 TBC, 14 Emmanuel Faye-Waboso, Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Finn Smith, 9 Jack Van Portvleet; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George (c), 3 Joe Hayes, 4 Alex Coles, 5 George Martin, 6 Ollie Chesham, 7. Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl.

Replacement: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Beno Obano, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19. Charlie Ewels, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Marcus Smith. (Probably replacing Furbank in starting XV)

More to follow…

This is a breaking news story that is being updated and more details will be released soon. Please refresh this page for the latest updates.

Sky Sports brings you live updates as they happen. Get breaking sports news, analysis, exclusive interviews, replays and highlights.

Sky Sports is your trusted source for sports news headlines and live updates. Watch live coverage of your favorite sports: Football, F1, Boxing, Cricket, Golf, Tennis, Rugby League, Rugby Union, NFL, Darts, Netball and get the latest transfer news, results, scores and more.

For all visit skysports.com or the Sky Sports app Breaking sports news headlines. you can accept Push notifications from the Sky Sports app For the latest news on your favorite sport, you can follow @SkySportsNews on X Get the latest updates and you can follow now Sky Sports WhatsApp Channel.