England star in race to recover from injury set-back in time for 2026 Six Nations

The race against the clock has begun for Roebuck, who is hopeful to return for the start of the 2026 Guinness Men's Six Nations. England host Wales on Saturday 7th February to ignite their respective campaign, with Roebuck current prognosis scheduling him to make his return around the tournament's first or second weekend. However, an upcoming stint on the sidelines could well hinder the Sale wings hopes of extending his run in the England team.

Speaking at the EPCR Investec Champions Cup launch event in Teddington today, Reobuck was sporting a medical boot as he rotated through the media sessions. Roebuck revealed the extent of the injury and the projected time out on the shelf for the 24-year-old.

"The long medical term is a sesamoid fracture, I would say I broke my toe but it is a bit embarrassing to say it. It is a pretty hefty injury, the two bones in my sesamoid have basically split apart so it is a pretty tough one. I have just got to get on with it.

“I saw the specialist last Friday and he said no operation, which is good but we are looking at 8-10 weeks."

Roebuck enjoyed a solid run of form throughout the latest Autumn Nations Series campaign, in which he juggled another problematic Achilles injury upon his opposite ankle. Roebuck starred in England's opening weekend win over Australia, yet the wing was then side-lined for the follow-up clash with Fiji. The flyer made his return to full fitness for the triumphant occassion over the All Blacks, yet the match has since been retrospectively marred by this frustrating toe injury.

“It was very frustrating, we didn’t realise how bad it was until the day after when I had the scan. I got off the pitch and it was pretty angry but we managed to get through it well which was pretty good and then I woke up in the morning, got the scan and it was pretty purple. The bone had just snapped.

“Just before half time I got tackled and my foot stayed in the ground (New Zealand) and I went over on it the bone just went. It was one of those freak incidents, it is just part of the game, you get tackled and your foot stays in an ugly position and it just pops."

“My Achilles was playing up a little bit, general rugby player load obviously played a part in your Achilles and that week I had a little blow up in my Achilles which meant I couldn’t train so much it was just a decision that was made for me to take that one off and hopefully let it settle down.

“It is a bit of a weird one, you feel like your toe is only a small bone but it quite an important part of the body for a rugby player."

Reflecting upon the injury, Roebuck revealed how it was 'heart-breaking' to learn that he may well miss out on the start of the upcoming Six Nations.

“I loved my time over the autumn, playing for England was such a special thing for me and for it to be cut short and not get the opportunity to go out and do it again was a bit heartbreaking. This is the game we play, every single player in our game gets injured at some point, you have got to take the good with the bad and try and get back better and fitter.

“We have discussed these one per centers [for a faster recovery], looking at hyperbaric chambers, red light therapy the sort of things that may be perceived as small but could have a great impact is stuff we are going to look at."

Also, there were injury updates for England hooker Jamie George and versatile back row forward Ollie Chessum. Starting with the Leicester man; “It was obviously a frustrating couple of weeks having not been able to play the last two games of the autumn but I am doing all right."

“I have had an issue with my foot that has been going on for the last six months and it finally gave way against Fiji. I managed to see the Fiji game out but meant I wasn’t able to play the last two autumn Tests. “Just time and we are not too far away. There’s a chance (of being fit for Euro games)

Jamie George added; It is a 4-6 week situation but I am hoping to be back sooner. It is realistic that I don’t run that fast any more so my hamstring does not need to be fully healed for me to play.

“Any injury is frustrating, you want to keep some momentum up throughout the season and it is frustrating, it was great to part of that autumn campaign. That team is onto a good thing at the minute and there is a really good feeling around it.

"I have been thankful to make some sort of impact in that and it was nice for us to finish it off in the right way. Coming back into the club now it will be nice to come back and have an impact but I will have to wait a couple of weeks to do that.