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Rugby Union

Strettle to miss World Cup

09/08/2007

England winger David Strettle's hopes of playing in the upcoming Rugby World Cup have been dashed after it was revealed he needs an operation on a foot injury.

The Harlequins star suffered a broken metatarsal bone in his left foot during non-contact training yesterday and has been told it requires corrective surgery, with a recovery period of 12 weeks.

The injury, most associated with a number of top-level England footballers in recent years, is to the fifth metatarsal bone.

Strettle suffered the setback during an open running element of the session, a statement from the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) said.

He was sent to see a specialist in London, accompanied by squad doctor Simon Kemp and club physiotherapist Steph Brennan, who made the assessment after further scans.

England head coach Brian Ashton, who is due to make his 30-man selection for the tournament in France next month, expressed his sympathy for Strettle.

"On behalf of the squad I feel desperately sorry for David as, like many others, I am sure he would have made a huge contribution to our 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign," he said.

"The England medical team will be in regular contact with their counterparts at Harlequins and I look forward to seeing David playing again in the not too distant future."

The head coach expects to bring in a replacement player ahead of this Saturday's warm-up match against France, despite the fact that the winger has not been selected in the match-day 22.

The news comes just 48 hours after another England World Cup hopeful - number eight Dan Ward-Smith - was ruled out of the upcoming international tournament after he failed to recover sufficiently from a knee injury he suffered in January this year.

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