Jamie George has returned from a hamstring strain ahead of schedule to reinforce England for their crucial Six Nations clash with France on Saturday.

George missed the 27-22 defeat by Ireland in Dublin because of the injury sustained on club duty for Saracens last month and was also expected to sit out the round two fixture at Allianz Stadium.

But he has been restored to Steve Borthwick’s squad sooner than expected and will challenge Luke Cowan-Dickie and Theo Dan for a place in the matchday 23 against France.

Cowan-Dickie started against Ireland and performed well until England fell away following a rousing opening half hour while Dan came in the second half as part of a bench that made little impact.

George’s return will be welcomed as England reflect on a bitterly disappointing opener at the Aviva Stadium that saw the final scoreline distorted by late tries from Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman.

The 34-year-old brings 97 caps worth of experience and was the team’s captain until Maro Itoje was placed in charge for the Six Nations.

England have now lost seven successive matches against tier-one opposition and must beat France to save their tournament heading into the first fallow week.