Chessum is ruled out of England’s tour plans

OLLIE Chessum is set to miss England’s summer tour after being ruled out of the rest of the season through injury.

Leicester have announced that Chessum will sit out the final two rounds of the Gallagher Premiership regular season after undergoing surgery to repair an unspecified ongoing issue.

The Tigers believe he should be ready for the start of next season in September but in the meantime will conclude their quest to qualify for next season’s Investec Champions Cup without an influential player.

The repercussions are also being felt by England, whose head coach Steve Borthwick must plan to take on Japan and New Zealand without a versatile back-five forward capable of filling in at lock or blindside flanker.

Chessum started every match of this year’s Six Nations and has become a key component of Borthwick’s pack during his 23 caps, most of which have been won in the second row where England are currently short on proven options.

The 23-year-old’s last appearance was in a 21-19 defeat by Bristol and while he was able to complete the match, it was decided that he needed an operation.

■ Finn Russell has returned from injury to reinforce the closing stages of Bath’s challenge for the Gallagher Premiership title.

The Scotland fly-half limped off early on European duty against Exeter on April 6 with groin damage that his club described as “significant”, raising the prospect he could miss the rest of the season.

But he has been restored to Bath’s starting line-up for their Premiership trip to Newcastle on Friday and will partner Ben Spencer at half-back.

Russell’s availability comes at a crucial time for the club as they target a play-off place. Bath are third in the table but sit just one point clear of fifth-placed Harlequins.