Luke Cowan-Dickie the latest England star ruled out of Scotland clash

The 29-year-old sustained the injury during the second half of Exeter's match against Northampton last weekend, and did not travel with the team for their Champions Cup match against the Bulls in South Africa. England's Six Nations campaign begins with a match against Scotland at Twickenham on February 4th.

According to Exeter's Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, "Luke's injury looks relatively serious," and more information on the extent of the injury and recovery time will be available after Cowan-Dickie sees a surgeon.

Baxter suggested, however, that the forward could return before the end of the current campaign.

"It does look like an operation is going to be required but that said, at this stage, it wouldn't be a season-ending situation," Baxter said. 

"We could still see him back for a good chunk of the season if rehab and everything goes well."

Arundell starred for Irish towards the end of last season, making a series of impressive displays for the club before making his England debut during the summer tour against Australia.

The 20-year-old was duly expected to play a more prominent role for the Red Rose in the Autumn Nations Series, but he was forced to sit that out and he could now miss the start of the Six Nations.

“He has had surgery on Monday and will be out for a number of weeks,” Kidney told reporters.

“The foot injury he got prior to the November Tests didn’t respond as we hoped and it was necessary to have surgery and he will be in a boot for six weeks and then we will have to see how he recovers.

“He has shown good healing powers in the past but it will be the New Year before he starts playing again.”

Curry, regarded by many as England's best player in recent years, may have caused concern for the new England head coach Steve Borthwick due to an injury ahead of the Six Nations.

Curry limped off in the 16th minute at Twickenham Stoop after his right leg was caught awkwardly in a tackle by Quins forward Wilco Louw.

Even without Tom for most of the game, Sale cemented their top-two spot in the Premiership with a hard-fought 24-16 bonus point win at third-placed Harlequins.

Sale director or rugby Alex Sanderson told BBC Radio 5 live: “We are predicting a low grade hamstring injury.

“He will have a scan [on Monday]. These things don’t turn around in a week, but I’ve already said to him ‘you get your head on for the Six Nations now’.”

The England skipper has been cited following the game against Gloucester Rugby for dangerous tackling, contrary to World Rugby Law 9.13. The hearing will take place on Tuesday 10 January at 6.30pm.

Farrell made direct contact with the head of Jack Clement of Gloucester during a tackle, which the referee Karl Dickson did not address at the time. He later scored a game-winning drop-goal in the final minute.

If the incident is classified as a mid-range offense, Farrell could potentially face a six-week ban, with the possibility of reduction for mitigating circumstances.

Farrell previously admitted to committing a top-end offence in September 2020, leading to a five-week ban for a dangerous tackle on Charlie Atkinson during a match against Wasps, which carries a starting point of a ten-week ban.