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
Ellis Genge of England (digitally altered) during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Tonga at Twickenham Stoop on 6 November 2021. Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK
Hookers (3):
- Jamie George 1/14
- Luke Cowan-Dickie 1/6
- Jamie Blamire 5/6
Locks (4):
- Maro Itoje 1/50
- Courtney Lawes 1/14
- Jonny Hill 1/5
- Ollie Chessum 1/5
Final whistle celebrations for Maro Itoje of England Rugby after the Six Nations Championship match between England and Wales at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on February 26th 2021. - PHOTO: Phil Mingo/PPAUK
Back-row (5):
- Tom Curry 1/14
- Billy Vunipola 1/9
- Alex Dombrandt 1/9
- Sam Underhill 1/5
- Lewis Ludlam 2/5
Tom Curry of England Rugby during the Six Nations Championship match between England and Italy at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on January 13 2021. - PHOTO: Micah Crook/PPAUK
Scrum-halves (3):
- Jack van Poortvliet 1/33
- Ben Youngs 1/9
- Harry Randall 4/7
Ben Youngs of England on the break to go over for a try during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Tonga at Twickenham Stoop on 6 November 2021. Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK
Fly-halves (2):
- Marcus Smith 1/50
- George Ford 1/5
Marcus Smith of England celebrates after winning during the Autumn Nations Match between England and South Africa at Twickenham Stadium on 20 November 2021. Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK
Centres (4):
- Owen Farrell 1/50
- Manu Tuilagi 1/5
- Henry Slade 3/10
- Joe Marchant 8/15
Manu Tuilagi of England during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Australia at Twickenham on 13 November 2021. Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK
Back-three (5):
- Freddie Steward 1/50
- Jack Nowell 1/14
- Jonny May 1/9
- Tommy Freeman 3/10
- Henry Arundell 2/5
Freddie Steward of England goes over for a try during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Australia at Twickenham on 13 November 2021. Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK
NOTABLE ABSENTEES:
- Anthony Watson 5/6
- Sam Simmonds 5/6
- Jack Willis 13/10
- Ben Earl 2/1
- Danny Care 10/1
Danny Care of England arriving before the six Nations Championship match, between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium, London , UK, on the 17th March 2017. (Photo:Dean Lancaster/PPAUK)
