Jonny May 'unlikely' to feature in England squad for Argentina Test

Jonny May is "unlikely" to feature in England's opening autumn international against Argentina, paving the way for Anthony Watson and Elliot Daly to start on the wings.

May's hamstring strain has made him unlikely to participate at Twickenham on Saturday, according to forwards coach Steve Borthwick, to simplify the back three selection picture.

Daly's rapid recovery from the knee ligament damage suffered on Wasps duty last month enables him to line up on the left wing, with Semesa Rokoduguni offering cover if May is ruled out.

"Jonny hurt his hamstring in Portugal. He's made a lot of progress but remains unlikely for Argentina," Borthwick said.

"Daly wasn't with us in Portugal but joined the squad on Sunday. We didn't initially know how severe the injury was but he's made great progress and has trained well."

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With the wing picture becoming clearer, the outstanding issues are in the midfield and back five of the forwards.

One of Alex Lozowski, Henry Slade and Owen Farrell must be withdrawn from the 26 retained at the squad's Surrey training base when the team is announced on Thursday morning.

Tom Curry and Sam Underhill are duelling for the openside spot, but both could be included in the 23 if Eddie Jones decides to rest Maro Itoje from the four locks selected.

Denny Solomana, Piers Francis, Charlie Ewels, Nick Isiekwe, Zach Mercer, Sam Simmonds and Tom Dunn have all returned to their respective clubs.

Jones named all 10 of his available British and Irish Lions in the 26 despite previously stating he would stand them down for all or part of the autumn due to their involvement against New Zealand.

"Every day we monitor the Lions players closely. We ran several different training programs last week according to what they needed on an individual basis," Borthwick said.

England 26-man squad

Full-backs: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath), Anthony Watson (Bath).

Inside backs: Danny Care (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).

Back five: Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Nathan Hughes (Wasps), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Sam Underhill (Bath).

Front row: Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs).