Paolo Odogwu out of England’s summer with serious knee injury

Wasps centre Paolo Odogwu faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after scans confirmed he tore his anterior cruciate ligament against Northampton.

Odogwu left the match in the second half of Saturday’s defeat at Franklin’s Gardens and will now miss England‘s three-match summer Test series.

An MRI scan revealed a torn ACL and the 24-year-old will see a knee specialist on Friday ‘for assessment and management planning’.

“This is obviously a heart-breaking end to probably the best season of my life, but these things happen,” said Odogwu, who scored nine tries in 15 appearances for Wasps this campaign.

“There is a long road ahead, but we move, and of course stay composed.”

Odogwu becomes the latest Wasps player to be struck down by a knee injury in the midst of a promising campaign, with captain Joe Launchbury and back row Jack Willis both requiring surgery earlier this year.

Eddie Jones had included Odogwu in his squad for this year’s Six Nations. But after not featuring in the tournament, the summer internationals had been seen as the ideal chance for the wing-cum-centre to represent England against USA and Canada.