Wednesday 9 March 2016 14:21, UK
Jamie George has been ruled out of England's Six Nations clash against Wales with a bicep injury and will be replaced by Luke Cowan-Dickie.
The Saracens hooker ruptured a tendon during training on Tuesday afternoon and will miss Saturday's showdown with Warren Gatland's men at Twickenham.
Cowan-Dickie won his solitary cap against France in the build-up to last autumn's World Cup and will supply cover on the bench for England captain Dylan Hartley.
England forwards coach Steve Borthwick revealed George may struggle to play again this season after a scan confirmed the extent of the damage.
"It's a ruptured tendon and it looks like he'll be out for eight to 10 weeks," Borthwick said.
"On the video of the training session, I watched the incident and it looked very innocuous. It was an arm out during a tackle and that was it.
"He carried on training and didn't think much of it, but then realised it was worse than he thought and saw the doctor."
Cowan-Dickie will play a supporting role given Hartley's importance to the team, but Borthwick expects the 22-year-old to thrive if summoned from the bench.
"I watched Luke play for Exeter and since he's come into camp he's been very impressive. I've got know him well and he's done well," Borthwick said.
"He's a really tough, physical player. He's a very strong ball carrier and is very competitive. He's done really well in training.
"There are no concerns over his inexperience coming into a game like this. These are all big games. Every England match is important."
Borthwick confirmed that second-rower Joe Launchbury trained fully on Tuesday as he continues his comeback from the hamstring injury that forced him to sit out the 21-10 victory over Ireland.
England name their team to face Wales on Thursday morning, with Launchbury expected to relegate Maro Itoje to the bench.
