There is every prospect that two products of the successful Wellington College team of six years ago, James Haskell and Paul Doran-Jones, will be playing in the same England pack on Saturday.

Haskell’s place against Argentina at Twickenham looks secure, while the meteoric rise that Doran-Jones has made this week shows no sign of stopping.

The Gloucester prop must occupy a place among the replacements at the very least, on the basis that no one else is left. England lost two more props yesterday, David Wilson and David Barnes, which leaves Duncan Bell and Tim Payne at tight-head and loose-head respectively with Doran-Jones, capable of playing on either side of the scrum, as cover.

It resembles something from the amateur era, such as the Christmas of 1984 when England whistled up Wade Dooley from Preston Grasshoppers to play second row against Romania. Professionalism is supposed to mean that better structures are in place, but so many props have been injured that Martin Johnson, the team manager, is forced to take a punt on a player who has made only five senior starts in his career.

The positive spin came from Graham Rowntree, England’s scrum coach, who won 54 caps in the front row himself. “I like what I see in Paul,” said Rowntree, who has worked with the player since his move from London Welsh to Gloucester in the summer. “I’ve been watching him all season, I think he’s a true prospect for the future. He’s good at a lot of things and I give him my full backing. He’s good enough and that’s what we’ll tell him. Paul has a great attitude, he’s fitted in well since he’s been with us.”

This is, of course, a case of needs must against as hard-headed an Argentina front row as even Rowntree could think of. When the Pumas name their side today, they are likely to include Rodrigo Roncero — who had a couple of years at Gloucester — Mario Ledesma and Martin Scelzo, all of whom have forgotten more about the dark arts of the front row than Doran-Jones, 24, has yet acquired. But if he brings the self-confidence that has characterised Haskell’s career, he will survive.

Wilson and Barnes are among ten players sent back to their clubs, Wilson to be monitored at Bath for the neck and shoulder injury he suffered against Australia on Saturday and Barnes, his club colleague, after hurting a knee in training yesterday. That brings to seven the number of props Johnson cannot pick because of injuries, while at least five more have been similarly affected at some stage this season, to the detriment of their representative prospects.

The other players to have departed include Jordan Crane, who started at No 8 against Australia, and Ben Foden, who presented a clear alternative to Ugo Monye at full back. When Haskell replaced Crane on Saturday, he did so with considerable brio, hence the probability that he will start, with Joe Worsley occupying his place on the bench.

Were Doran-Jones to join Haskell, the two instigators of an unpalatable schoolboy episode that involved filming a sexual encounter (for which both were suspended) would be together again with rather more serious business to hand.

The ructions at prop suggest Steve Thompson will start again at hooker, given his greater experience than Dylan Hartley and that Johnson is likely to keep change to a minimum, with last week’s team likely to be better for the exercise against the Wallabies. “We will find out about some of these young guys, probably quicker than we expected,” Rowntree said.

But the England coaching panel is convinced of the progress made since the dark days of autumn 2008 and Brian Smith, the attack coach, points to the 20 tries scored in the past eight matches as evidence that his backs do not lack a cutting edge. Moreover one of last season’s regulars, Toby Flood, is set to appear on Leicester’s bench in the LV Cup on Saturday after recovering from the ruptured Achilles tendon that kept him out for six months.

But, England have scored only one try in their past four games against the Sanzar unions, who remain the yardstick in the world game. “It won’t get easier, particularly against New Zealand [England’s opponents a week on Saturday],” Smith said. “The last autumn series was barren, we made some adjustments which we have carried through to now. You can see that in the way we are trying to play and if our execution around the edges [against Australia] had been more precise, we would have scored.”

England squad players returning to their clubs: Backs: D Strettle (Harlequins), B Foden (Northampton), M Tait (Sale Sharks), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks).

Forwards: S Armitage (London Irish), D Barnes (Bath), G Chuter (Leicester), J Crane (Leicester), B Kay (Leicester), D Wilson (Bath).