England fly-half Zoe Harrison will miss the remainder of the Allianz Premier 15s season and the Women's Six Nations after suffering a torn ACL in Saracens' match against Harlequins on February 18
Thursday 2 March 2023 06:18, UK
England have suffered a major blow ahead of the start of the Women's Six Nations later this month after fly-half Zoe Harrison was ruled out for the rest of the season.
Harrison suffered a torn ACL in the second half of Saracens' match against Harlequins last month and subsequently underwent surgery this week.
England are set to kick off this year's tournament against Scotland in Newcastle on March 25 and conclude it against France at Twickenham on 29 April.
In a statement put out on social media, Saracens said: "Saracens can confirm that Zoe Harrison suffered an ACL injury during the second half of the duel against Harlequins on 18th February.
"After speaking with a consultant, Harrison has undergone successful surgery this week.
"She will be unavailable for the 2023 TikTok Six Nations and the remainder of the 2022/23 Allianz Premier 15s season."
The match against France will mark the first time Twickenham has hosted a stand-alone international women's fixture.
Simon Middleton says his decision to step down as England Women's head coach is for the "good of the programme" moving forward.
The 57-year-old has been in charge of the Red Roses since 2015 having originally joined the set-up as an assistant the previous year, and his record includes overseeing an unprecedented 30-match unbeaten run.
England have appeared in Rugby World Cup finals in 2017 and 2022 during Middleton's time in charge, too, but he has now decided to bring the curtain down following the conclusion of this year's Six Nations.
Explaining his decision, he said: "I think, since the World Cup, obviously you have your reflection period and you try and switch off a little bit and then you start a review process.
"To be honest, for the good of the programme and for the good of myself, we were better off if we stepped away from it at this point.
"When you have come off the back of a major tournament, there is always a bit of a dip and then you re-gather because things come quite quickly.
"I was sort of waiting for that feeling to really start generating again and we are a couple months post World Cup and I am thinking 'there is something not where it needs to be now'.
"There was definitely a personal point of view where I thought: 'that suggests to me you are ready for a new challenge'.
"I spoke to a lot of the senior players, who are great to be honest, and I was like 'Look, do you think you are ready for a new voice?'
"They were all in agreement. Like anything, you have got to evolve the programme, you have got to add new stimulus, we added Lewis Deacon last year and we have continued to add new staff who bring different things and new players who bring different things.
"I just thought it is time for new stimulus at the top. So it was a very dual thing: new challenge for me, new voice for them."
