Youngs out of Six Nations, Wigglesworth called up

LONDON: England scrumhalf Ben Youngs will miss the rest of the Six Nations as he faces four months on the sidelines after suffering knee ligament damage in Sunday’s victory over Italy in Rome.

Youngs, 28, was injured nine minutes into the 46-15 victory on the opening weekend of the Six Nations when his left leg was trapped as he passed from the back of a ruck.

“Following a scan this afternoon (Monday), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) has been ruled out for the remainder of England’s NatWest 6 Nations campaign,” the RFU said.

“The scans showed the England half back ruptured his MCL (medial collateral ligament) in his left knee and is having further assessment with a surgeon this week. He is likely to be out for four months.”

England have called scrumhalf Richard Wigglesworth into a 32man squad for their next Six Nations game against Wales in place of Youngs, with hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie also added to the squad for the match at Twickenham on Saturday.

Number eight Nathan Hughes will join the camp this week to get his knee injury assessed.

As for Wales, they could be without one of their stars against England on Saturday.

Cory Hill, the 25-year-old second-row, suffered a blow to the head in Wales’ opening round victory over Scotland

And now he will undergo the return-to-play head injury assessments over the coming days as he tries to make it for the Twickenham clash.

Hill put in his best performance in a Welsh shirt in Cardiff last weekend, so if he is ruled out it would be a setback to Warren Gatland, who names his team to face England yesterday.

But there is better news with regards to George North and Liam Williams — the Lions wingers have both returned to full training and are available for selection.

For Scotland, wing Byron McGuigan is out of the France game with a hamstring injury — Richie Gray (calf) and Duncan Taylor (concussion) are also still unfit.

Meanwhile Ireland flanker Josh van der Flier will miss the entire Six Nations — and the rest of the season — with a knee ligament injury.