ENGLAND have been robbed of their entire first-choice front row for the autumn after Phil Vickery was yesterday ruled out with a neck injury.
Vickery will miss the Twickenham appointments with Australia, Argentina and New Zealand after it was revealed he requires surgery that will entail a minimum three months of rehabilitation. The length of his absence also places his participation in the opening RBS 6 Nations fixture against Wales on February 6 in grave doubt.
It is a major blow to England manager Martin Johnson who discovered on Monday that Andrew Sheridan will be sidelined for four months with a dislocated shoulder, forcing him to miss the start of the Six Nations.
With hooker Lee Mears already ruled out through knee ligament damage, England’s all-Lions front row has been decimated less than three weeks before their autumn series begins.
