England star under the knife
England arrived in Johannesburg, ahead of the second Test against South Africa, to the news that star centre Brad Barritt has undergone surgery.
Barrett suffered a facial injury in his team's 17-22 loss to the Springboks in Durban at the weekend – the first encounter in their three-Test series.
The Boks and English will go head-to-head in Johannesburg and then Port Elizabeth on the next two Saturdays. England also play the SA Barbarians in two midweek matches – in Kimberley on Wednesday (June 13) ad Potchefstroom (Tuesday, June 19).
Barritt is the major casualty from England's first tour match, when he was forced from the field after 53 minutes of the defeat in Durban with heavy swelling to his eye.
The England midfielder revealed on the social network, Twitter, on Sunday that he had gone under the knife.
"Thanks for all the messages! Had a small op this morning to repair a laceration of the conjunctiva in my eye. Will heal very quickly!" Barritt told his followers on Twitter.
That rules Barritt out of Saturday's second Test, although he is expected to play in PE.
England also took to Twitter to confirm that the 25-year-old had undergone a successful operation.
"England's @bradbarritt has had successful op on lacerated eyeball in Durban and will join squad in Jo'burg later this week," the Rugby Football Union said on the social network.
"Centre @bradbarritt out of 2nd Test but will be available for 3rd after eye op. Back in full training start of next week," the RFU added.
Apart from Barritt, England were still waiting for further news on the fitness of fullback Mike Brown, who suffered a hand injury while trying to prevent South Africa's second try.
The absence of Barritt will result in some changes.
Manu Tuilagi could move from the outside centre position to take Barritt's place at inside centre. Or Owen Farrell could move from flyhalf to No.12, with Toby Flood coming in at No.10.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster said that his charges are set on revenge in the second Test.
"The boys are disappointed because they lost," Lancaster said, adding: "They want to win, that is the primary emotion at the moment.
"But when we look back on it, at half-time we were definitely in a positive mindset and we felt we had the better of the first half, even though it was only 6-6.
"The boys are certainly very positive and the good thing is we have already seen one or two areas we can fix up.
"The players are talking about it already and that is a good sign. They are not downcast and they are feeling there is no chance of turning up next week and not winning.
"If anything, this will be their motivation to right the wrongs we did in this game."
The players who did not feature will get their chance to stake a claim for a place in the second Test in a tour match against the Barbarians in Kimberley on Wednesday.
Lancaster said "We need the midweek boys to pitch up and play well, put pressure on us and make sure we have got some good selection decisions to make."
