Yarde blow for England's Six Nations hopes as winger is ruled out with hip injury

PUBLISHED: 07:55 EST, 29 November 2013 | UPDATED: 17:24 EST, 29 November 2013

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Stuart Lancaster’s England plans for the Six Nations continue to be badly hit by injuries with Marland Yarde the latest player to be ruled out of starting the tournament.

The London Irish wing has ruptured a hip tendon and looks certain to miss at least the first three games of the Six Nations.

He will have surgery next week and joins prop Alex Corbisiero, lock Geoff Parling and centres Manu Tuilagi and Joel Tomkins on the sidelines.

England blow: Yarde has picked up a hip injury which will require surgery and rules him out of the Six Nations

THE CASUALTY LIST

Flanker Tom Croft: knee reconstruction, expected return April.
Centre Brad Barritt: ankle surgery, return New Year.
Centre Manu Tuilagi: torn pectoral muscle, return late February.
Lock Geoff Parling: shoulder surgery, return March.
Prop Alex Corbisiero: knee surgery, return late March.
Prop Mako Vunipola: knee injury, return late December.
Wing Marland Yarde: ruptured hip tendon, return late February.
Wing Ben Foden: knee problem. Must see specialist, return unknown.

London Irish say the 21-year-old could be out for up to 14 weeks, which looks certain to bar him from England’s games in February against France, Scotland and Ireland. Head coach Lancaster had planned to give Yarde another chance to freshen up his team’s attacking options.

Yarde, who made an impressive start to his international career on England’s tour of Argentina last June, played in the opening international of the autumn series against Australia but was then troubled by the hip problem.

He returned to action last Saturday, in Irish’s Aviva Premiership match at Leicester but aggravated the injury in the 54th minute when making a try-saving tackle on wing Niall Morris in the 20-11 defeat.

While Yarde vowed on Twitter to ‘bounce back stronger’, Lancaster is awaiting an update on Northampton’s Ben Foden, Yarde’s replacement in the autumn games, who sustained a knee injury in last week’s Premiership win over Newcastle. Foden is seeking specialist advice and misses Saturday’s Premiership match at Worcester.

Tiger feet: Yarde picked up the injury in the Premiership match with Leicester

Lancaster did have some positive news on Friday when Wasps named Christian Wade to face London Irish on Saturday. Wade was due to start England’s match against Argentina last month only to be ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Lancaster has a number of candidates for a wing spot, including Anthony Watson, the Bath back who trained with the squad last month, and Gloucester’s Jonny May, who also featured on the tour to Argentina.

Another selection of note this weekend is the decision by Saracens to start Owen Farrell at inside centre rather than in his normal England position of fly-half.

One option for Lancaster is to start Farrell at centre in the absence of Tuilagi and Tomkins. Such a decision would then give either Gloucester’s Freddie Burns or Leicester’s Toby Flood a chance at fly-half.

Absent friends: Corbisiero (left) and Tuilagi (right) will also miss next the forthcoming championship

Up front, the loss of Corbisiero — who played only 40 minutes of England’s game against Argentina — and Parling is more easily covered.

Though Corbisiero is considered the No 1 loosehead, Lancaster has two players pushing for a place in Harlequins’ Joe Marler and Mako Vunipola, the Saracens prop who is expected to be back in action later this month after a knee injury.

The loss of Parling, who injured his back during a second-half substitute’s appearance against the All Blacks, is compensated by the need to give Bath’s Dave Attwood an opportunity alongside Courtney Lawes and Joe Launchbury, the current No 1 pairing.

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moggy93, London, United Kingdom, 17 hours ago

This is going to be a massive blow for his World Cup 2015 chances. Unfortunately for Yarde, he still hasn't had a proper chance to burst onto the international scene - this 6 nations could've been it. He HAS to be fit for next years New Zealand tour otherwise I don't think he'll get a look in for the 2015 World Cup. Blimey, I'm getting ahead of myself - looking forward to the 6 nations! But please Lancaster.....PLEASE DO NOT PICK CHRIS ASHTON.