George Ford’s World Cup hopes appear to be slim after it was confirmed he will not play for new club Sale Sharks this year.
The fly-half underwent surgery on a ruptured Achilles he suffered playing for Leicester Tigers in the Gallagher Premiership final last season.
Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson told The Times : “George ruptured his Achilles going over on his ankle in the Premiership final and we are hoping he will be back in six to nine months for the Leicester home game at the end of the year.
“He had the operation about 10 days later and Leicester were really good pushing it through. It means we will lose George for the first half of the season, but we do have Rob du Preez fit, which wasn’t the case at the start of last season.”
ODDS: (To make the England Rugby World Cup Squad 2023)
Props (5):
- Ellis Genge 1/50
- Kyle Sinckler 1/10
- Mako Vunipola 1/5
- Will Stuart 1/3
- Joe Marler 2/5
Hookers (3):
- Jamie George 1/14
- Luke Cowan-Dickie 1/6
- Jamie Blamire 5/6
