Maro Itoje played the whole of England’s autumn campaign with the knee injury that has now deteriorated to the extent his participation in England’s Six Nations opener against Ireland is in question.
The Saracens second-row has a chipped bone in his knee but it is understood he picked up the initial problem during England’s training camp in Portugal in October.
Itoje played every minute of the autumn internationals, except for his sin-binning against South Africa, and returned to club duty last weekend when he played all but the final 10 minutes in the victory over Wasps. England say they knew about the initial knee injury throughout and they managed it accordingly, adding they were not aware Itoje had chipped his patella, though conceding he may well have done so in Portugal.
Lima Sopoaga: ‘Losing can affect players. I take it all quite personally’
Nonetheless, Itoje was one of only three players to start each of England’s matches and the news of his layoff comes days after the Rugby Football Union’s interim chief executive, Nigel Melville, claimed a peace accord had been reached with the Premiership clubs amid growing concerns over the amount, and seriousness, of injuries suffered during international get-togethers.
Itoje’s autumn workload – and the fact he was not rested by Saracens last week – is more concerning in light of a worldwide survey published this week that showed 45% of players have felt pressed into training or playing with an injury.
There is no suggestion Itoje felt he had to play for club or country and it was not until after last Saturday’s match for Saracens that his knee swelled and he was taken for a scan, which revealed the extent of the injury. Saracens are refusing to comment on the length of Itoje’s absence, other than he will be out of action for “a number of weeks”. Eddie Jones will take encouragement from the fact surgery is not required, with England beginning their Six Nations campaign in Ireland in eight weeks.
Itoje will miss Saracens’s European double-header against Cardiff Blues, which begins at Allianz Park on Sunday, and is almost certain to miss the Premiership matches against Exeter and Worcester before the end of the year. He was already due to be rested for one Christmas game after his international commitments.
Itoje joins Jack Nowell as a casualty of England’s autumn camp after the Exeter wing sustained a hamstring injury before their last match against Australia.At the end of last season injuries to Bath players prompted the club’s owner, Bruce Craig, to declare “there has got to be significant questions asked about the duty of care”.
The Professional Game Board conducted a review into England injuries after finding the number has been consistently higher than those in the Premiership over the past three seasons. Melville said: “Premiership Rugby Limited had observers at training sessions [during the autumn] and they were pretty happy with what they saw. We think we have managed that quite well.”