England vice-captain Joe Marler will miss the second Test against New Zealand in Auckland with a foot injury.


The 95-cap prop went off in the early stages of the 16-15 defeat by the All Blacks in Dunedin.

Northampton’s uncapped Emmanuel Iyogun has been called up as a replacement and will arrive in New Zealand on Tuesday.

England face the All Blacks on Saturday at Eden Park (08:05 BST) as they look to square the two-match series.

“He doesn’t tend to come off unless something has happened,” England head coach Steve Borthwick said on Sunday.

“Fingers crossed it’s not too serious.”

Marler’s absence will mean a start for Harlequins team-mate Fin Baxter, who made his England debut in Dunedin, or Sale’s Bevan Rodd.

England are already without two other looseheads in the form of the injured Ellis Genge and the suspended Beno Obano, while Mako Vunipola has retired from international duty.

“We have two young men in Fin Baxter and Bevan Rodd who have a great opportunity now,” Borthwick added.

Borthwick said England will look to shore up their set-piece this week after the All Blacks edged the scrum battle in Dunedin.

“The best two scrums in the world are South Africa and New Zealand,” he explained.

“We rank just behind them. I think (scrum coach) Tom Harrison has done an excellent job and you saw Fin Baxter yesterday play 60 minutes on his Test debut.

“I thought he did really well. We will be better for that experience.

“They certainly had the better of the scrums; it is one of those areas we will address with the players.”


Ireland head coach Andy Farrell felt his side made too many mistakes in the first half of their 27-20 defeat to South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday.