End of the road for Sheridan?
England and Toulon prop Andrew Sheridan may be forced to call time on his career because of a neck injury he sustained during the Top 14 match against Perpignan last month.
The veteran has been plagued by injury, undergoing four shoulder surgeries while at Sale Sharks prior to joining Toulon in 2012, and his latest setback could mark the end of the road for the 34-year-old.
Toulon coach Bernard Laporte told the French media Sheridan may well be forced into retirement.
"Andrew is out for a month and possibly forever," said Laporte.
"He has always had a problem between his neck and his shoulder. The surgeon has told him that it's not necessary to have a new operation.
"He will now have a month of complete rest and if the pain doesn't go away, then he will have to stop playing rugby."
Sheridan made his England debut against Canada in 2004 and was controversially included in the British and Irish Lions squad to tour New Zealand the following year.
In arguably his most memorable performance, the powerful 1.95m, 125kg prop inspired England to a surprise 12-10 win over the Wallabies in the 2007 World Cup quarterfinals with a dominant scrummaging effort that earned him the man of the match award.
Having only played one match – against the New Zealand Maori – on the 2005 Lions tour, he earned the honour to represent the Lions in two Tests on the tour to South Africa in 2009.
He won the last of his 40 England Test caps against Argentina in the 2011 World Cup.
