Leicester and England fans have been given a major boost with the news that the knee injury Ben Youngs suffered against Italy is not as severe as initially feared.
The 28-year-old scrum-half damaged ligaments in his knee in the first half of England’s opening Six Nations encounter in Rome and has been ruled out of the tournament.
Early predictions indicated that the playmaker could have been sidelined for up to four months.
But Leicester medics are considerably more optimistic and believe Eddie Jones’s first-choice No9 will be ready to return “within six to eight weeks”.
That means Youngs should be available for the tail end of the season and England’s three-Test summer tour of South Africa.