Rhodes hopes for England break
MICHAEL RHODES’ England mission is back on track thanks to an operation to fuse a piece of his hip into his collarbone. The Saracens flanker played through the pain of an undiagnosed broken collarbone for four years. The injury came to light only after Saracens’ 28-17 Champions Cup final victory over Clermont in May.
The 29-year-old broke the same collarbone for the second time as Saracens retained their European crown, with medics then discovering the full extent of his problem.
The South Africa-born Rhodes will qualify for England on residency in July next year and national head coach Eddie Jones will monitor his progress.
And now that the former Stormers backrower has finally shaken off his shoulder agony to start against Bath today, he will look to edge closer to a future England call-up. “It was an injury when I was in Cape Town, and it was misdiagnosed,” said Rhodes.
“It was a broken collarbone and I injured it again in the final against Clermont. They have cut a piece of bone out of my hip and replaced a piece of bone in my collarbone, with a plate and a couple of other things.”
England full-back Mike Brown will overtake the Harlequins appearance record set by Nick Easter – now the club’s defence coach – when he runs out for the 282nd time today, against Gloucester.
A LATE penalty try enabled Newcastle to edge a scrappy 13-12 Premiership win at Sale last night.