With the England No.7 and 6 shirts up for grabs following injuries to captain Lewis Moody and Tom Croft, South-African born Fourie had been one of the favourites to fill the berth at openside after featuring off the bench during the autumn internationals.

The 32-year-old has continued to enhance his reputation this season in spite of Leeds’ struggles and would provide a physical presence at the breakdown.

Fourie is confident that he will recover from his calf injury in time to be fit for England’s RBS 6 Nations opener against Wales.

Yet having seen Moody’s injury to be much worse than first thought, Fourie knows not to count his chickens but has no regrets about playing in what was effectively a dead rubber.

"I am confident it’s just tightness,” said Fourie. “Maybe I should have come off earlier. It doesn’t feel too bad but you never know until the swelling goes down.

“Lewis thought he had just picked up a minor injury and it turns out he’s out for six weeks.

“I wanted to play. The more I play the more my consistency improves. I am one of those players that needs to be playing regularly.

“I feel the more I play the more I feel I keep my form. So no there was never a doubt of me not playing in this game.”

If he does not recover in time Johnson could turn to Joe Worsley – who tackled his heart out last time England travelled to Cardiff – or the uncapped Tom Wood who has been in sensational form for Northampton this season.