More injury woes for Lancaster

As if England rugby coach Stuart Lancaster doesn’t have enough to fret over, fresh injuries to prop Mako Vunipola and No 10 Owen Farrell seem set to complicate the imminent naming of his squad to tour New Zealand.

Vunipola, the Saracens prop, injured a knee injury during the Heineken Cup final loss to Toulon in Cardiff and was to undergo scans as fears arose he could be sidelined for six to 10 weeks with ligament damage.

Team-mate Farrell also had to be substituted in the second half of the European final with an ankle problem. Saracens management confirmed the injury occurred when he tripped on television wiring on the pitch before kickoff in Cardiff.

Both players would not have played in the opening test against the All Blacks at Eden Park on June 7 anyway, because of their involvement in this weekend’s English Premiership final against Northampton.

But their uncertain

status for the tour is another headache Lancaster could have done without as he juggles a 43-strong squad that will be heading to New Zealand in two waves.

The first contingent, minus players from Saracens and Northampton, is due to arrive in Auckland in the early hours of Thursday. The remainder will touch down around the Wednesday before the opening test, and will not be considered for selection for that match.

Already Lancaster has lost a host of senior figures to injury, with first five-eighth George Ford the latest to join that list as he heads for shoulder surgery. He is also sweating on the availability of Northampton’s New Zealand-born hooker Dylan Hartley who is coming back from a long spell out with his own shoulder problems.

TalentedBath utility back Anthony Watson also tweaked a hamstring in the Amlin Challenge Cup final loss to Northampton over the weekend and will need to prove his fitness.