Sale Sharks wing Marland Yarde will be out for the rest of the season after dislocating his knee in last weekend's 20-7 win over Newcastle Falcons.
Physicians also confirmed the England back had ruptured ligaments in his knee as he now appears to likely to spend well over six months on the sidelines, placing his hopes of playing in next year's World Cup in serious doubt.
The injury to Yarde is a dampener to Sale's win over the Falcons, just their second win of the season, and means Steve Diamond will be eagerly awaiting the return of Chris Ashton from suspension.
Forced to make an adjustment to his backline, Diamond said after the match that the severity of the injury was clear to eye.
“It was just horrendous, not nice to see,” Diamond said in his post-match press conference.
“We'll show our care for him. It's a dislocation of the knee by the looks of it, so we'll see what the specialists say.”
As he awaits surgery, Marland Yarde posted the below message to Twitter.
Unfortunately true but so easily could have been worse. I will continue to stay positive and be back stronger and better for this experience! I have great people around me who will help me through this tough time and watch the team reach its potential and drive up the table 🦈 🌟 https://t.co/XsAXgaGuhx
— Marland Yarde (@YardeM) October 9, 2018
