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Riki Flutey out of Tests and Delon Armitage is a doubt too
Chris Jones14 Sep 2009
England suffered a major blow today with confirmation that Riki Flutey has a serious shoulder injury and will miss the autumn Tests.
Flutey was hurt during the Lions' Third Test victory over South Africa in July and reported problems during training with French club Brive.
The former Wasps back was sent to London to be examined by the Rugby Football Union's medical team, who opted for keyhole surgery to determine the extent of the injury.
An RFU statement said: “An arthroscopic examination of Flutey's left shoulder was performed this morning. As a result, the surgeon has concluded in conjunction with the England and Brive medical teams that Riki will be unavailable for up to three months and therefore it is unlikely that he will be able to prepare or take part in England's internationals in November.”
Things could get worse for England team manager Martin Johnson tomorrow when full-back Delon Armitage will discover if he will miss the Tests too.Armitage (above) scored a try before he dislocated his shoulder in London Irish's 40-10 win over Gloucester in the Guinness Premiership yesterday.
The RFU said: “Delon will see a specialist tomorrow morning to review the results of a scan. Once that consultation has taken place a further announcement will be made.”
England begin their autumn international campaign against Australia on 7 November and then face Argentina and New Zealand on successive Saturdays, with all the games at Twickenham.
Argentina have been invited to join New Zealand, Australia and champions South Africa in a new Four Nations tournament.
The competition will replace the
Tri Nations in 2012 providing Argentina can satisfy conditions, which include guaranteeing that their strongest side is available.
Reader views (3)
Jim, London
Utter nonsense !
In an ideal world, London Irish would have moved into central London rather than remain at Sunbury, to 'capitalise' on the huge Irish support there ? No of course not. In the modern era, it is possible for people to travel to Reading which removes the need for the club to endure exhorbitant rents etc by locating in the centre.
Yesterday's crowd of 13,000 plus shows that London Irish, by improving their rugby performance on the pitch, are becoming more attractive to spectators hence their biggest opening day crowd. Irish also hold the record for the biggest attendance for a club game excluding those clubs who used HQ or Wembley.
On the playing staff, it is noticeable that the London Irish academy has produced a wealth of talent inclcuding Shane Geraghty, who decided to play for England rather than Ireland, as well as three current England internationals and a couple of Saxons which is not bad going for an 'English' club. To play for Ireland requires players to be either exceptionally gifted, or play for either Munster, Leinster or Ulster.
Traditionalists may not like the imperfect world when the mainstay of Irishness at a club like London Irish is the fans, which brings them into line with say Glasgow Celtic FC.
But as long as the academy continues to develop youth as London Irish have in recent years, then I for one have no qualms about watching players of the calibre of Tagikacibau, Mapasua or Ryan Lamb putting on the shirt
- John Bloomfield, Twickenham, 14/09/2009 13:45
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They should just call themselves The Exiles and have done with it. What a great performance though after their rather poor start against Saracens the week before. Up the Irish, or rather Up the Exiles !
- Jack Spratt, Richmond, Surrey, 14/09/2009 12:41
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"London" Irish should urgently follow Saracens example by
moving back to where their 2-3 million base of potential Irish fans live and play games between Twickenham and Wembley - selling discounted tickets to attract a much larger fan base.
LI was mistaken in moving to Reading which is not much of a Rugby town and has a tiny Irish population in comparison to London. Reading stadium is impressive, but there is nothing remotely Irish about it. The team has less Irish players than some of the other GP teams.
So unless they merge with their football club hosts, they should get back to where their Irish fans are or risking losing any meaningful connection with anything Irish.
The Irish in the club's name is in danger of falling foul of the trades description act.
- Jim, London, 14/09/2009 11:13
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