The news that Nick De Luca hobbled off the pitch at Rodney Parade, Newport, with a twisted ankle that will almost certainly rule him out of the rest of the RBS Six Nations Championship, opens the door for two more of Scotland’s fringe players to prove that they have what it takes to spark the national back division into life.

A great deal of hope had been invested in De Luca as the player who would unlock the international side’s attacking potential in the same way as he has done for Edinburgh, his club. He has had a troubled time at international level, however, showing a handling frailty under pressure that he had never shown at club level and his ankle problem may simply save Frank Hadden, the national coach, the trouble of dropping him out of the 22 after moving him to the bench a fortnight ago.

Which opens the door for Ben Cairns and Graeme Morrison, who have paired up in a successful partnership for the A team and now find themselves vying for the squad place that De Luca is likely to vacate.

Though Cairns is the more versatile of the two, showed considerable maturity in the way he captained the side, played with assurance in both defence and attack in Edinburgh’s weekend draw away to the Dragons and scored their only try, Morrison has had his nose in front having been capped off the bench against Wales. Selecting the Glasgow player on the bench against England would allow Hadden to keep the Andy Henderson-Simon Webster starting combination at centre.

“It has been a good few weeks for me,” Morrison said. “It was good to get back into the A team, especially playing at 12 alongside Phil Godman at fly half.

“It gives me more freedom to get the ball in my hands and run. Everything we did seemed to come off and playing in that game can do nothing other than promote the cause of everyone involved.

“I did not get that chance too often against the Ospreys [played in pelting rain and near gale-force wind] but it was good to get the win. It was important to defend well and not make errors, which came off for me and the team. I’ll just have to wait and see. I enjoy playing both centre positions, I’ll play wherever I am picked to play. I tried to drop a few hints in Hadden’s direction with these performances, but whether he sees it as me putting my hand up is up to him.”

In the end, Morrison, aged 25, could find that the last couple of games are an indication of his long-term future since his size – he is 6ft 3in and 16st 8lb – and his ability to beat players in tight spaces demand that he gets as close to the action as possible.

Cairns has been marked out as a Scotland player of the future since he captained the national Under18 side four years ago and it is only a matter of time before he fulfils that potential.