It never rains but it pours.
Eddie Jones had an excellent 2016.
His side went unbeaten throughout the calendar year which yielded 13 victories.
Highlights of which included a first Grand Slam since 2003 and 3-0 series whitewash against Australia during the summer.
However, many of the players who were integral to that winning run throughout 2016 are in a race to be fit for the Six Nations.
James Haskell, who only made his return from a seven month injury layoff suffered a suspected concussion in his first game back against the Leicester Tigers.
That looked like it hurt https://t.co/zdylRQbuTy
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 9, 2017
It remains to be seen whether Haskell will be fit for the beginning of the tournament, though Wasps’ Director of Rugby, Dai Young, stated that the 31-year-old was “fine”.
Much of England’s success throughout 2016 was built on the back of dominant forward displays and it seems that Jones will be without many of his forward stars with Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola, George Kruis, Joe Launchbury, Dylan Hartley and James Haskell either ruled out of the tournament or facing a race against time to be fit for their tournament opener against France.
Another player who will play no part in this years Six Nations is former England captain, Chris Robshaw.
Get well soon Chris 👊@ChrisRobshaw will undergo surgery on his left shoulder today and is expected to be out for around 12 weeks. pic.twitter.com/kHlzyFlTke
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) January 9, 2017
Robshaw aggravated an underlying shoulder issue during Harlequins’ New Year’s Day clash against Worcester.
After seeing a specialist in the aftermath of that game it has been decided that the best course of action is to undergo surgery which will rule the 30-year-old out of action for 12 weeks, missing England’s defence of their Six Nations crown.
If you think back to Ireland’s loss against England in last years Six Nations, Ireland struggled to live with the physicality that Vunipola, Kruis et al. brought to the game.
It remains to be seen how much this injury crisis will affect England’s Six Nations hopes this year, but it doesn’t help that they are missing their entire Grand Slam winning back-row – Vunipola, Haskell and Robshaw – from 2016
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