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Cole and Vunipola set to miss England’s autumn action

Scotland’s Matt Scott and Ryan Wilson with Owen Farrell and Dan Cole of England
England look set to be without Dan Cole for their autumn programme after Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill detailed the prop’s recovery.

England look set to be without Dan Cole for their autumn programme after Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill detailed the prop’s recovery.

Cole’s last competitive action came in the 2014 RBS 6 Nations when disc problems in his neck sidelined him. He was forced to undergo surgery and missed the rest of the season and after going under the knife again in June, Tigers boss Cockerill admits England’s November Tests look unlikely.

“That gives him a timescale of 12 weeks to be back playing which is mid-November but we will give him as much time as he needs,” Cockerill told the Daily Telegraph.

“The disc was replaced. It is a metal disc, with a plate and a ball-and-socket joint inside. Dan needs the bone to graft around that. The disc will be stronger than the one he had there in the first place.

“He has not been able to do anything at all post-surgery for three months. Now he can do some running, some light weights, and gradually build himself back up. Stuart Lancaster has been very sensible about it.

“We will manage Dan as the medics see fit. What is important is that everything is done right and he is good to go, rather than have him come back early and have issues with it.”

England are also set to be without fellow prop Mako Vunipola after the loosehead also missed England’s tour of New Zealand in the summer. ? Saracens boss Mark McCall told the Daily Mail: “Mako has an injury from the European final. He’ll be out for a while – until November possibly. But he has no chance for the autumn internationals.”

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