Sidestep ended Strettle's World Cup dream - and Tindall looks likely to miss out as well

Harlequins wing Strettle is unlikely to play again until mid-November after a training injury applied the brakes on a career that had seen him accelerate through the ranks from club player to potential World Cup star.

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Strettle will have a screw inserted tonight into the fifth metatarsal in his left foot, which was fractured during training at the University of Bath on Tuesday. It has ended his World Cup hopes, with the latest setback coming barely two months after he failed to play any part in England's South Africa tour.

Strettle, 24, was laid low by a stomach virus so powerful he spent three days in the intensive care unit of a Johannesburg hospital.

And while England go about attempting a meaningful Webb Ellis Trophy defence in France during September and October, Strettle will once again find himself on a road to recovery.

He said: "I was doing some open running with the ball in hand, and I took a sidestep. I just heard a crunch.

"I suspected something was broken, but it wasn't confirmed until I had it X-rayed.

"The specialist I saw last night has told me I won't be playing again for 12 weeks, which is obviously a massive disappointment.

"I felt that, subject to selection, I was getting closer to something that everyone dreams of doing, and that is playing in a Rugby World Cup.

"I will have the screw inserted in my foot tonight, and then I will be in a cast for four to five weeks before the rehab starts.

"I will be working closely with the Harlequins medical teams, and I know the England medics will be staying in touch.

"All I want to do now is hope that the operation goes well, and then start to get myself fit to play for Harlequins again as soon as I can."

Strettle would have been a certainty for England's 30-man World Cup squad, which will be announced by head coach Brian Ashton in Bath next Tuesday.

And there was no disguising Ashton's acute sense of loss as he faced up to being without the three times-capped Quins try machine.

Ashton said: "I feel desperately, desperately sorry for David. I am sure he would have made a big contribution to our World Cup campaign.

"I just hope the operation is successful, and he is back playing for Harlequins as soon as possible. I have no doubt he will be challenging to play in the 2008 Six Nations.

"I think excitement and enthusiasm are probably the two words that sum David up best.

"When he gets the ball, he has got a wow factor about him. Despite what appears to be a relatively slight build, he's got a fair bit of power/weight ratio and an ability to break tackles, go around players and score tries.

"That is very evident, as it was all last season with Harlequins and then with the England Saxons before he came into the senior side."

Ashton had already ruled uncapped Bristol number eight Dan Ward-Smith out of his World Cup plans after he lost a race against time to recover from a knee injury.

It means the existing England training squad is now down to 38 players, with grave doubts still surrounding Gloucester centre Mike Tindall's fitness.

But three other players - Mark Cueto (groin), Tom Rees (hamstring strain) and Peter Richards (back) - remain on course to resume training next Monday.

England continue their World Cup warm-up programme against France at Twickenham on Saturday, then play a quickfire return in Marseille seven days later.

Ashton added: "We've got two more warm-up games to come, then the World Cup tournament itself. "It would be an absolute miracle if we went through all those games without any more injuries."

Tindall is battling for fitness after breaking his leg in a Guinness Premiership game last April, but he has yet to train fully with the England squad.

Ashton said: "I have met with the medical team, and the situation regarding Mike Tindall is exactly the same as it was last Sunday.

"I just need to assess the whole situation, and make my decision based on that." Ashton, meanwhile, confirmed he has no plans at this stage to summon a training squad replacement for Strettle.