Morning:
8°c
Martin Johnson suffered a huge blow to his preparations for the autumn internationals today when prop Andrew Sheridan was ruled out of action for four months.
The England team manager has a lengthening injury list and it looks increasingly certain he will be forced to field weakened teams against
Australia, Argentina and New Zealand on successive Saturdays from the start of November.
Sheridan damaged his shoulder when a scrum collapsed seven minutes before the end of Sale's Heineken Cup victory over Cardiff Blues on Friday night and the 29-year-old Lions prop will undergo a full reconstruction on Wednesday. Sale were awarded a penalty at the time for the infringement as Sheridan, who had impressed throughout the game, stayed down and required oxygen.
Sharks director of rugby Kingsley Jones said: “Andrew is a great presence around our team and he will be missed. It's bad news for Andrew, England and Sale but we just have to come to terms with it.”
The four-month lay-off also threatens Sheridan's involvement in England's RBS Six Nations campaign, which opens against Wales on 6 February.
Should his rehabilitation take as long as expected, it is unlikely he will be ready for Test duty until England's third match — against Ireland on 27 February — at the earliest.
His absence ensures England will enter a challenging autumn minus two of their first-choice front rows after fellow Lion Lee Mears incurred a knee ligament injury at the weekend.
Martin Johnson is now possibly missing 11 players for the November series, including Toby Flood (knee), Simon Shaw (toe), Delon Armitage (shoulder) and Riki Flutey (shoulder).
England No8 Nick Easter believes the mounting injury worries are the result of the “brutal” brand of rugby being played in Europe.
Easter, who needed nine stitches to repair a head wound in Harlequins' recent Guinness Premiership win over Bath, said: “Rugby at the moment is a brutal game. It is taking its toll on the players and the injuries seem to have just followed on from the problems the Lions had in South Africa.
“It comes with the territory and unless you go out there wearing American football style protection then guys are going to continue to get hurt. But one new factor appears to be squad sizes, with clubs having to trim down the number players on the books because of the credit crunch, which puts more pressure on those guys available to play.”
Easter was rested for last week's defeat by Cardiff in the Heineken Cup under the Elite Player Squad agreement. He returned to action on Saturday, alongside fellow Test stars Ugo Monye and Danny Care, but could not stop Quins losing 23-19 to Toulouse.
Monye scored two tries and along with Easter and Care avoided any injury problems, but Quins' bid for European glory this season has been seriously damaged.
Will Skinner, the Harlequins captain, left the ground on crutches after injuring an ankle and will miss next week's Premiership match at Gloucester. It is a major blow for both the club and a player who was pressing for an England senior call-up following Tom Rees's second shoulder operation.
Johnson is set to name an amended 32-strong Elite Player Squad for the three Tests in a week's time.
