England elite squad member Hendre Fourie damaged rib cartilage in his side's 6-3 Aviva Premiership defeat to Sale Sharks.
Back denies his side are devoid of confidence
Leeds Carnegie head coach Neil Back revealed that Hendre Fourie damaged rib cartilage in his side's 6-3 Aviva Premiership defeat to Sale Sharks.
The 31-year-old Fourie is a member of England manager Martin Johnson's elite squad, but his injury is likely to take two to three weeks to heal.
England begin their autumn international campaign in 15 days against New Zealand at Twickenham, and Back said: "How severe it is we don't yet know. Hopefully it will be right for the autumn internationals. I hope he gets his chance because he's deserved it.
"I've had a similar injury before and although it's way too early to say how bad it is, it is manageable and I wouldn't rule him out yet of the opening international.
"His performances throughout last season deserve the reward of an England cap."
Back refuted accusations that Leeds are lacking confidence, after just one win in eight games in all competitions this season.
He added: "I don't believe we are devoid of confidence. It was a tough game dominated by defences.
"Sometimes you have got to give credit to that part of the game. And if you get away with it that's great.
"Sale slowed up the ruck and ultimately it came down to a few opportunities and Sale took theirs and took the points.
Smarter
"They slowed the game down at the contact area and you've got to applaud that. They were smarter than us."
Sale head coach Mike Brewer said: "At half-time I told the boys I don't mind if you win 3-0 and they were laughing after coming in at the end having won 6-3. The whole thing for us was about coming to Leeds to win.
"With the way the weather was forecast this week and after coming to watch the Stade Francais game I knew that on a pitch that is not very wide like Headingley it's difficult to score a try here.
"You don't get around Leeds easily - they don't miss tackles.
"For us it was about field position. We kept our shape in defence pretty good and we set out and achieved what we wanted to do.
"We managed the game pretty well in the second half. We wanted to keep them pinned in their own corner and from there it was about building the points.
"It's on the home team to provide the entertainment, it's up to the away team to find the win."
