exeter hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie at least remember the beginning England‘s six nation campaign after ankle injury
chief director of rugby Rob Baxter Cowan-Dickie described the injury as “relatively bad” with the need for surgery.
England kick off Six Nations under new head coach Steve Borthwick against Scotland at Twickenham on 4 February, before hosting Italy eight days later. It is conceivable that Cowan-Dickie could be sidelined for the entire tournament.
Cowan-Dickie, who was injured during the second half of Exeter’s Gallagher Premiership win over Northampton, has not traveled with the Exeter squad to South Africa for Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup appointment with the Bulls.
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter said: “I believe he is meeting a surgeon today and the surgeon will give us an indication.”
“I think at this stage, we have to say it’s relatively bad. I don’t want to be flippant and say it’ll be eight weeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks (out).
“I think we’re assessing it, but you won’t see him running around for the next three or four weeks.”
Cowan-Dickie, who has won more than 40 England caps, is in his final season at Exeter before joining French champions Montpellier next stint.
Baxter said: “If you look at the mechanism of injury, it’s very strange.
“He ends up halfway through a tackle, someone falls behind his legs and he ends up with his ankles crossed and one leg twisted under him.
“As you can imagine, he was very pissed off on Saturday evening. He was massively looking forward to coming here (South Africa), getting the feel of being here with the club and being involved in a big game .
“The Heineken Cup means a lot to him and the truth is he is a really good guy and really wants to make a big impact this season from the moment he goes. I think a lot really bothers him.
That said, if there is anyone who can make a comeback on time or early from injury, it is Luke.
“I think there’s a lot of season left in him, but we just want to get things moving quickly so that we can get that rehab short enough so he doesn’t miss too much of the season.”
Meanwhile, Chiefs Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg has also not traveled to Pretoria as he struggles to recover from a heel problem.
“Stuart did a fitness test in Saturday’s pre-game and still couldn’t run at pace or put any distance in his heel. It was still very sore,” Baxter said.
“He will do a sort of rehab program this week while we are away. As soon as his heel is comfortable enough, he will be declared fit to play again.
“It’s not like a ligament thing or something that would require an operation.”