England Launchbury set to miss November Tests
INJURY UPDATE: England and Wasps second row Joe Launchbury will miss the November Test Series after undergoing knee surgery.
The Wasps captain will be out of action for 12 weeks the club confirmed ahead of their European Champions Cup match against Leinster on Friday.
According to RugbyPass, an injection aimed at solving the pain in his knee had failed and surgery is the only option.
This means Launchbury will be out of England’s November tests against South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia. It also means that Launchbury could be struggling to be match fit for the start of the Six Nations championship.
Launchbury’s teammate Dan Robson is also facing up to 14 weeks out of the game following the ankle surgery he will undergo – both England and Wasps have lost two key members of their squad.
Wasps No.8 Nathan Hughes will be joining the “not available” list of players for club and country with his ban for punching Gloucester’s Lewis Ludlow to be revealed next week, along with any action that could follow his “what a joke” tweet from the Rugby Football Union hearing this week which was halted because of an “issue,”
Wasps have only just got England flank, Brad Shields, back from a broken cheekbone and he is in the team to face holders Leinster in tonight’s opening match of the Heineken Champions Cup in Dublin.
England head coach Eddie Jones has now lost his most effective mauling lock with Launchbury recognised as the best “maul destroyer” in the sport. It means England will lack second row bulk for their four-game November assignment and the Saracens trio of Maro Itoje, George Kruis and Nick Isiekwe plus Northampton’s Courtney Lawes are the contenders for those matches.
England have faced a series of setbacks with Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Sam Simmonds, Ellis Genge, Ben Te’o and Beno Obano all currently battling back from serious injury while Joe Marler has retired from test rugby.
