England winger Jack Nowell looks set to miss the Red Rose’s summer tour to New Zealand with a knee injury, according to club boss Rob Baxter.
The 21-year-old, who started all five of England’s 2014 RBS 6 Nations matches, will have surgery on his knee next month that could rule him out for up to eight weeks.
England face the All Black for a three-Test series starting on June 7 in Auckland.
But Nowell, who hasn’t played since picking up a shoulder injury eight days after England’s final RBS 6 Nations match against Italy, isn’t likely to be a part of Stuart Lancaster’s squad.
“Jack has a pretty bad shoulder injury,” Baxter told the Daily Mail. “It was going to be hit and miss to get him back in time for the end of the season and he also needs an operation on a long-term knee issue.
“This is an important chance to get on top of that situation. He is booked in for an operation as soon as the season finishes and we’ve let him go away for a break until then because he won’t have a break for six to eight weeks after the surgery, when he’ll be in rehab.
“The shoulder injury, because it’s nerve-based, will just take time to heal naturally. Ironically, it has been his best season yet but he has only played six Premiership games. He’s had the knee injury for pretty much all of his senior career.”
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