Simmonds could miss Japan 2019 with injury

Sam Simmonds could miss the entire season with a knee injury, dealing a blow to his hopes of making England’s World Cup squad for Japan next year.

The Exeter No8, who has scored five tries this season, sustained the injury during the Premiership win over Worcester on Saturday

Rob Baxter, the Exeter director of rugby, revealed yesterday that the 23-year-old had ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament and required knee reconstruction which could sideline him for up to nine months.

“If the operation and rehab goes really well, we’d like to hope that we can maybe see him before the end of the season, but it’s going to be touch and go,” said Baxter, speaking at the English launch of the Heineken Champions Cup.

“Obviously, Sam is upset. I think he has [World Cup worries] and I can understand that. But the flip side is that he can’t get injured twice. He may well find that if he comes back fit and fresh, and manages to get a big month in with us before the end of the season, he could look like the guy who is absolutely flying.

“There will be a lot of others who have been playing every week, through the autumn and the Six Nations, and two or three of them might go down yet. Sam will be in cotton wool. There are a variety of ways to look at it. He’s just got to aim to get back.”

Meanwhile, Tom Youngs, the Leicester Tigers hooker, has offered his support for his former England front-row colleague Joe Marler, who revealed on Tuesday that anxiety associated with being away from his family led to him picking up yellow and red cards while playing for Harlequins in order to be suspended from international duty.

Youngs, who played alongside Marler from 2012 to 2015, said he had no idea the Harlequins prop had been suffering from stress.

“If he is struggling with that sort of stuff, it’s not nice,” said Youngs. “I feel very sorry for him that he is. Hopefully, with him doing what he has done and retired, he won’t have

to worry about it any more. If that means he leads a healthier life then fair play to him. That is the most important thing.”

Youngs who won the last of his 28 caps in the World Cup match against Uruguay in Manchester in 2015, admitted that the commitments involved with international rugby were demanding.

“It is very tough. Fair play to him for standing up and saying he can’t do it, as it shows the sign of a very tough man. You cannot see it as weakness, as he understands his emotions and feelings.”