Saturday 21 May 2016 18:05, UK
England were given a double injury scare ahead of their tour to Australia after Manu Tuilagi and Owen Farrell limped off early in Saracens' procession into the Aviva Premiership final.
Tuilagi, who was making his comeback from a knee problem and playing on an artificial surface for the first time, departed only 20 minutes into Leicester's 44-17 defeat at Allianz Park.
He damaged his right hamstring while attempting to tackle Chris Wyles.
Having kicked 11 points in Saracens' five-try rout of the Tigers, Farrell then trudged off after feeling the effects of two successive heavy tackles.
Eddie Jones names his England squad for next month's three-Test series against the Wallabies on Sunday and will be anxiously awaiting updates on the midfield pair, who were certainties to be included in his squad.
"Manu has pulled his hamstring. I don't know how bad it is, but it's not great. We'll assess it over the next couple of days," Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill said.
"We don't know if he's out of the tour, we'll see how he gets on in the next 48 hours before assessing how bad it is.
"It happens. He's a powerful athlete and he's tweaked his hamstring. That's life, he'll get over it. It's not ideal because he came off pretty quickly. It doesn't look brilliant, but we'll see."
Farrell departed after receiving two heavy tackles in quick succession and his fitness is also in doubt ahead of Saracens' appearance in next Saturday's Premiership final and the England visit to Australia.
"I don't how serious it is. He's got a bang on the rib and you know ribs can go one way or another. Hopefully it goes the right way," Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said.
Cockerill refused to blame Tuilagi's early exit for the result, but once again expressed his dislike for the artificial surface at Allianz Park.
"If you get more purchase on the pitch, you put more force through your body and that causes more problems," Cockerill said.
"I'm not a fan of the artificial pitches at all. For me they could take them all out and make every Premiership side have a DESSO field (grass mixed with natural fibres) or a proper grass one that's mixed so that you have a good surface for the whole year."
