Clark requires shoulder surgery

Editor

Northampton and England forward Calum Clark has confirmed that he will be out for “the foreseeable future” due to shoulder surgery.

Northampton and England forward Calum Clark has confirmed that he will be out for “the foreseeable future” due to shoulder surgery.

Clark was named in Stuart Lancaster's EPS squad earlier this month after returning from a 32-week ban for breaking the arm of Leicester hooker Rob Hawkins.

“My shoulder needs an operation so I will be out of action for the foreseeable future. That's the game,” said Clark in a tweet on Wednesday.

His injury, which follows the news yesterday that Tom Palmer has been ruled out for eight weeks, is not critical to England's selection plans given that Joe Launchbury, Geoff Parling, Mouritz Botha and Courtney Lawes all remain available, with Chris Robshaw, Tom Wood, James Haskell and Matt Kvesic also all available at flanker.

England may well turn however to a number of options from the Saxons squad, including Jamie Gibson, Will Fraser or George Robson to provide cover.