Tom Curry will miss the duration of the Six Nations due to a hip injury that will require surgery.
Curry, 25, played an integral part in England's World Cup bid last month after he returned from suspension for a third-minute red card in their opening game against Argentina.
He has not played for his club Sale Sharks since returning from the tournament, and director of rugby Alex Sanderson believes this is the right course of action to take to ensure a full recovery.
He said: “Tom has been back down to London to have further extensive x-rays under movement with a different consultant and this is the best thing for him in the short term.
“He's still a young lad and it's the best thing to ensure he's able to be more robust moving forward and to train and progress his game the way he wants to.”
The injury will create more headaches for Sale and their back row, with the club already on the hunt for replacements until the end of the season for Tom Ellis and Jean-Luc du Preez, who are also out for the foreseeable future.
Sanderson is optimistic the 50-capped England flanker will recover well though, buoyed by Curry's can-do attitude when he was informed of the prognosis.
“I'm sure there will be ebbs and flows over the next four or five months and I hope to be part of that journey with him as we get him back to where he needs to be.
“There was no chink in the invincible armour that is Tom Curry. It was like, ‘right, let's get it done. Let's go'.”
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