Leicester's Toby Flood will be out of action for six months after needing surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon sustained in the Heineken Cup semi-final win over Cardiff Blues at the Millennium Stadium.

Flood had the operation last night, ruling him out of the Heineken Cup Final, this weekend's Premiership semi-final with Bath and England's two summer Tests against Argentina.

He will also be removed from the list of Lions standby players for the South Africa tour. As a result, Danny Cipriani may delay his own ankle surgery to remove a metal plate as he is now in the frame to play against Argentina and act as a back-up player for the Lions.

A decision on when Cipriani will have the operation was due this week but the Flood injury now becomes a factor. England team manager Martin Johnson said: “On behalf of the squad, I'm very disappointed for Toby. He was playing well and I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill said: “It is very disappointing news for Toby.”