Itoje may yet feature in England opener against Scotland

Eddie Jones refuses to fast-track Maro Itoje into his England team, but the Saracens lock could yet feature in Saturday’s RBS Six Nations opener against Scotland.

Jones was present at Allianz Park last weekend to see Itoje’s man-of-the-match performance against Bath, describing it as his finest game for the Aviva Premiership champions.

The 21-year-old was omitted from the 23 retained in preparation for the trip to Edinburgh, with Jones believing elements of his game still need work before he is given his first cap

His hand may be forced, however, if Courtney Lawes fails to recover from his hamstring injury, with Thursday’s team announcement set as the deadline for the Northampton secondrow to prove his fitness.

“Courtney is progressing. We’ll give him until Thursday. It looks pretty positive. He probably won’t train until Thursday but we’re hopeful he’ll be all right,” Jones said.

“I went to Saracens – I hid in the stands – and it was the best game I’ve seen Itoje play for them. It was really good, very impressive.

“It’s never too late to get in the 23. The 23 isn’t set in stone, but generally speaking the 23 that we kept are the frontrunners.

Out of selection

“Now they can play themselves out of selection by injury and by attitude, so there are still opportunities.

“But remember that my job is to make Test rugby players. There’s a step from club rugby to Test rugby here, as there is in every country.

“There are subtle but strong differences between a good club player and a good Test player.

“I want Maro to be a 60-Test player. I don’t want him to be a 10- or 20-Test player. Sixty-Test players start their career well and build on that.

“Some players you can expose too late, some too early. My gut feeling on Maro is that he’s definitely progressing, but he needs just a little more time.

“And if he’s going to play 60 Tests for England we can wait because that would mean he’s a bloody good player and that’s what I think he will be.”

Jones still hopes to have Manu Tuilagi available for the final two rounds of the Six Nations despite the Leicester centre suffering a hamstring injury.

Tuilagi, who recently returned from 15 months out with a groin problem, is expected to miss two matches but could yet make his long-awaited England comeback against Wales and France.

“I don’t think this really affects his chances – he should be back for Leicester in two or three weeks,” said Jones, who will announce his vice-captain on Thursday.

Pretty confident

“It’s only a slight strain and he was pretty confident. It means he will get a little bit less game time, but we’d hope he’d still be available for the Wales game.”

London Irish have announced the signing of Edinburgh captain Mike Coman on a three-year deal.

Backrow forward Coman, 28, will move to Irish for next season.

The New Zealander joined Edinburgh in 2013, leading them to last season’s European Challenge Cup final, when they were beaten by Gloucester.

Irish’s head of rugby operations Glenn Delaney said: “The addition of Mike to our squad for next season is a huge coup for London Irish.

“He is a proven leader and will bring plenty of physicality to our pack.”

Irish are currently bottom of the Aviva Premiership after collecting just eight points from 10 games, and they host 10th-placed Worcester next weekend.

Coman said: “Having spoken to (Irish head coach) Tom Coventry, who I know well from New Zealand, and seeing where he wants to take the club, I was happy to sign.

“Everything looks to be in place off the field to ensure the side are successful on it, and I look forward to being part of a squad working hard to achieve that.”