Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie will miss England’s charge for the Championship after being ruled out of the remainder of the Guinness Six Nations with a knee injury that requires surgery.
Cowan-Dickie, 28, sustained the blow during England’s 23-19 win over Wales in Round 3 at Twickenham and was forced from the field of play after just 24 minutes, being replaced by Jamie George.
The Exeter Chiefs skipper has recently established himself as a first-choice starter under Eddie Jones at international level, being named one of England’s vice-captains, but will miss the fixtures against Ireland and France with England still in the hunt to win a second Guinness Six Nations in three years.
Cowan-Dickie will go under the knife early next week, with fears he could miss the entirety of the domestic season although Chiefs’ director of rugby Rob Baxter is hopeful he could be fit for the Gallagher Premiership semi-finals if the Devonians make the top four.
Title permutations after Round 3 of the Guinness Six Nations
“It’s a pretty significant knee ligament injury, which will need an operation,” said Baxter.
“He’s going to be out for a significant amount of time, possibly until the end of the season.
“Obviously it’s a big blow, not just for us, but for Luke himself as he is a very important and very good player.
“We have got some hope that he could feature towards the end of the season, that is if we extend our season from getting into that top four, but right now it’s too early to say if that’s fully the case.
“As I said, the biggest blow is for Luke himself as he’s just cemented himself as a starter for England.
“He’s going well, he’s part of their leadership group and he’s a key player both for us and England.
“That said, he’s a very good rehabber and if there is a chance for him to get back, 100 percent he is the guy who can do it, so don’t write him off just yet.”
