England star primed for surgery as PREM boss issues update after ‘frustrating’ injury
Chandler Cunningham-South was ruled out of England's upcoming training camp through injury.
Chandler Cunningham-South looks set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, with the England and Harlequins forward primed for surgery.
The hulking utility forward, who can play both back-row and lock, suffered the injury in Quins’ PREM Rugby defeat to Sale Sharks on October 11, and he missed their respective EPCR Investec Champions Cup and PREM Rugby wins over Vannes and Saracens.
He was also ruled out of England’s upcoming three-day camp through injury, alongside recent Test debutant Benhard Janse van Rensburg, and it now seems he will miss the entirety of the Nations Championship block as a result.
‘He’s going in for surgery’
Cunningham-South was involved in a controversial incident near the end of the Londoners’ 28-24 defeat to Sale earlier this month. He was subject to a hip-drop tackle in the latter stages of the game, which was initially awarded as a Harlequins penalty before then being reversed due to the World Rugby law change not coming into effect until November.
He was soon substituted and the injury now requires surgery to correct. “He’ll be back in the next block,” Quins boss Jason Gilmore said of the 23-year-old.
“It’s probably a frustrating one; on the linebreak against Sale, he copped a hip-drop tackle from behind. It’s a weird one; come November 1, it’s a dangerous tackle but you’re two weeks early and all of a sudden it’s not.
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
“He’s going in for surgery, and he’ll be out for two months,” Gilmore continued. “We’ll get him back at the end of the PREM Cup block and hopefully we’ll get him back for Leicester (Tigers) in block two (of the PREM season).”
Elsewhere, Quins were without Argentina international Guido Petti Pagadizábal for their 33-15 victory in the London derby through a slight knock, but he should be fit for their upcoming trip to Exeter Chiefs.
“He copped a little bang last week,” Gilmore detailed. “With him being a lineout jumper, we just wanted to take the risk out and give him a full preparation this week. He’ll be back next week.”
Harlequins now head to Devon next Saturday with their first PREM win of the season under their belts, and could leapfrog their opponents should they come away with the win.
