WORCESTER Warriors face the prospect of doing without star performer Ollie Lawrence for the duration for the Six Nations competition.

The Rugby Football Union confirmed that Eddie Jones would name a 28-man squad at the end of January for the tournament that runs until the middle of March.

Due to the current ongoing situation with COVID-19, the RFU have taken the decision to maintain the 28-man squad for the entirety of the six week period, meaning players will not be allowed back to their clubs, even if they aren't involved in the 23-matchday squad.

Warriors' Lawrence was involved throughout the autumn internationals so you would assume he would be a part of Jones' plans, meaning he would not be available for Worcester now until mid-March.

Ted Hill also had a spell in the camp last year but did not feature and was released back to Worcester during the Autumn Nations Cup but he could be included and would therefore also be away from Warriors until March.

There was some doubt over whether the Six Nations would even go ahead after both the Women's and U20s tournaments were postponed until April due to the pandemic but it now looks like the men's event will go ahead as planned, starting in February.

England begin their defence of the trophy with two home matches at Twickenham Stadium, opening with the Calcutta Cup against Scotland on Saturday 6 February (4.45pm KO), followed by Italy on Saturday 13 February (2.15pm KO).

They will then play Wales away on Saturday 27 February (4.45pm KO) before returning to Twickenham to take on France on Saturday 13 March (4.45pm KO).

Jones’ side then travel to Dublin to play Ireland in their final game on Saturday 20 March (4.45pm KO).