Courtney Lawes and Jonny Hill ruled out of England’s Six Nations opener

England’s troubled build-up to the Guinness Six Nations has deteriorated further after forwards Courtney Lawes and Jonny Hill were ruled out of Saturday’s opener against Scotland.

Lawes has failed to pass the return to play protocols for concussion in time for the Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield, while Hill is still struggling with a stress fracture to his lower leg.

Losing Lawes is a bitter blow for England as the Northampton flanker was set to deputise as captain for Owen Farrell, who will miss the entire Championship because of ankle surgery.

Until he was concussed – his last match was for Saints against Ulster on January 16 – the 32-year-old had produced the best rugby of his career over the previous six months.

He was a popular replacement for Farrell as skipper during a successful autumn and a youthful team that is in transition can ill afford to lose his 93 caps of experience for a tricky fixture in Edinburgh.

A stress fracture has prevented Hill from playing since Exeter faced Harlequins on January 8 but England were insistent as recently as Tuesday afternoon that he and Lawes were still in contention – despite their failure to train since first arriving into camp eight days earlier.

Eddie Jones has retained 16 forwards in a squad of 29 that will step up preparations for Scotland and names his team on Thursday morning.