London – Wasps wing Christian Wade added to England's injury woes after the Premiership club announced the flyer would be out of action for up to six months with a foot injury.
England coach Stuart Lancaster had wanted to field rising star Wade, capped once when he made his Test debut on tour against Argentina in June, during last month's internationals at Twickenham.
But the 22-year-old Wade was ruled out with a variety of injury problems and he will now miss the Six Nations Championship, which starts in February.
Wade, who suffered the injury in last weekend's match against London Irish, will undergo surgery to repair “significant ligament damage to his mid-foot area,” a Wasps statement added.
“It is devastating news for both the player and the club,” said Wasps boss Dai Young.
“Christian was hugely unlucky to miss out on being capped this Autumn (November) with England and he had hoped to push on and put in some good performances for Wasps to get him in contention for Six Nations selection.
“It is a huge blow for him but he is a young player with a huge future and his time will come around again.”
Earlier Monday, it was announced that England full-back cum wing Ben Foden was set to miss the start of the Six Nations after sustaining a knee injury while playing for Premiership side Northampton.
The 28-year-old Foden suffered the setback in the Saints' 18-0
win over Newcastle last month.
And Northampton coach Jim Mallinder said Foden wasn't likely to return until February at the earliest, with the Six Nations starting in the first weekend of that month.
“I think it will be around the 12-week mark that Ben will be out for,” Mallinder told the European Rugby Cup website.
“It's very unfortunate for him,” added Mallinder. “He's in a positive frame of mind. It could have been worse, it could have been better. Ben is a quick healer but you cannot rush these things.”
Foden has fallen down the England pecking order at full-back behind incumbent Mike Brown and Alex Goode.
But his versatility saw him win his 34th Test cap as a wing in England's most recent international Ä last month's 30-22 defeat by world champions New Zealand at Twickenham.
He joins an England injury list that includes back-row Tom Croft, centre Manu Tuilagi, Northampton prop Alex Corbisiero and lock Geoff Parling, all of whom are set for lengthy spells on the sidelines.
For Northampton, he will miss several upcoming European Cup group matches including the double-header against Ireland's three-time European champions Leinster and the final home clash with French Top 14 champions Castres. – Sapa-AFP