Cadan Murley has emerged as a major doubt for England’s Six Nations meeting with France after suffering a foot injury during his Test debut against Ireland on Saturday.

Murley, the 25-year-old Harlequins wing, began the game in bright fashion by latching onto Henry Slade’s grubber kick to put England ahead.

However, as the game slipped away from the visitors during the second half, he committed errors in the back-field under pressure from Ireland’s kicking game.

Murley appeared to misjudge the flight of a Jamison Gibson-Park box-kick and fumbled the ball before needing to run it out of his own dead-ball area. Later, he was bundled into touch by James Lowe and Hugo Keenan after letting another kick dribble across the England try-line.

He did bounce back to set up Tom Curry for England’s third try, but seems likely to miss France’s visit to the Allianz Stadium after sitting out of training on Monday at Pennyhill Park.

Despite the ongoing absence of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, England still have plenty of viable options in the back three. Ollie Sleightholme and Tom Roebuck are two wings whom Steve Borthwick could bring into his match-day squad, both of them having impressed during the autumn.

Elliot Daly and even Freddie Steward have both started Test matches out wide. Tommy Freeman has become a regular since the 2023 World Cup and seems set to continue in the starting line-up.

Murley’s selection for round two was immediately likely to become a talking point of this week, with former England captain Will Carling jumping to the rookie’s defence after the final whistle of a 27-22 win for Ireland.

“For those throwing the mud, the truth is @‌cadan_murley scored a try, assisted another & made a try-saving tackle, alongside other positive additions to England’s performance,” Carling posted on X. “He made a couple of mistakes, who doesn’t on their debut!! But overall, he should be proud, I hope he is.”