Jonny May to miss England's autumn international against Argentina
Jonny May is set to miss England's opening autumn international against Argentina on Saturday week after sustaining a hamstring injury during the squad's training camp in Portugal.
May pulled up in Tuesday's practice session in Vilamoura to further limit Eddie Jones' wing options after Elliot Daly and Jack Nowell were ruled out of the majority of the Twickenham program due to respective knee and cheekbone problems.
It leaves England with only three fit players in the position for the visit of the Pumas in Anthony Watson, Denny Solomona and Semesa Rokoduguni.
There are minor concerns over Solomona and Rokoduguni, but the pair are expected to shake off an Achilles issue and dead leg respectively.
Jones had hoped to rest Watson due to his involvement in the British and Irish Lions Test series against New Zealand during the summer, but he must now revise those plans and start him in a back three that will also include either Solomona or Rokoduguni.
Fly-half Marcus Smith is to return home after spraining his foot and Joe Launchbury is nursing a knee problem that will prevent him from training until Friday.
England were forced to adjust their training program on Wednesday to account for the number of injuries of varying severity and the decision to rest the Lions players, which meant 14 of the 33 who assembled in Portugal were unable to take part.
Losing May would be a significant blow as the 27-year-old has been in blistering form since swapping Bath for Leicester this season, crossing 10 times in nine matches for the Tigers.
England's wing injury crisis has been exacerbated by Marland Yarde's fall from grace at Harlequins, who he left to join Sale on Wednesday morning.
Yarde has missed three training sessions this season and finally the patience of director of rugby John Kingston snapped, resulting in the 25-year-old being told to find another club.
Jones had high hopes for Yarde, seeing in him potential that has yet to be realised for club or country, and he would have been involved against Argentina, Australia and Samoa but is unlikely to be summoned now.
One of the reasons for May's stunning form has been the vision of fly-half George Ford, who swapped Bath for Leicester over the summer and has flourished alongside England half-back partner Ben Youngs.
Ford has been impressed by May's predatory instincts.
"Jonny's been prolific. He's one of the most professional players around," Ford said.
"He looks after himself and works harder than everyone to make sure he has the point of difference, which is his finishing and speed.
"We know at Leicester that if we do our bit on the inside and give him a bit of space on the outside, nine times out of 10 he'll take the chance.
"I don't think I've played with a quicker player, but he's strong as well as rapid. Once he gets going his leg power is such that he can bust through tackles."