Sale camp deliver early bad news for England after PREM opening round

England boss Steve Borthwick has been dealt a Nations Championship blow after Sale Sharks loosehead Bevan Rodd underwent a fourth operation in two years following a hand injury sustained against Bristol Bears last weekend.

Rodd, who made five appearances off the bench in last season’s Six Nations, faces eight to 12 weeks on the sidelines after an operation on the scaphoid, the most commonly fractured carpal bone in the hand.

It’s another setback for Rodd, who missed the Nations Championship in the summer after suffering a dislocated shoulder in Sale’s 26-17 European Champions Cup victory over Harlequins in April.

Sharks boss Alex Sanderson told his weekly media call that Rodd will now miss November’s games against Australia, Japan and New Zealand, as well as the finals weekend, but believes he will be back playing at the lower end of the estimate.

“He’s having an operation on the scaphoid, so is out for eight to 12 weeks. He played for 20 minutes with that. So that’s why I was thinking this is all right. It’s just a tough lad and scrummed really well.

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“It’s really unfortunate. It’s just another bit of a blow for Bev, but eight to 12 taking him through the Nations Championship, and it’s good to go for the three quarters of the season. So it’s not devastating, but it is a bit crushing for him at this point.

“It’s all been for different things. He will probably heal quicker. If it’s a finger or a broken bone, it’s four weeks, but the scaphoid, from my understanding, controls the blood supply, so generally they have to operate, and it needs to heal.”

But the good news is that a scan has revealed that Rekeiti Ma’asi-White didn’t damage his knee ligaments against the Bears, and he should be playing again in two or three weeks, and Tom Roebuck could be back for the trip to Saracens.

Ben Curry, who hasn’t played since damaging his hamstring in the Investec Champions Cup win over Clermont Auvergne last December, is now back in full training and could return to action in north London.

“We’ve had a really detailed plan of what training looks like, modified training into full training, leading up to this week where he’s in full training and he’s adhered to it in terms of his metres and his loadings.

“But I have to say, you know, he is ready. When I had to run out last week to stop him chasing after Aaron Reed and pushed him on a kick chase, he just lost his head,” added Sanderson.