Saracens and England will be without Richard Wigglesworth for the rest of the season after the scrum-half underwent surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
The 28-year-old sustained what Mark McCall, Saracens' director of rugby, described as a freak injury 20 minutes into Sunday's LV Cup game against Exeter, his first appearance for the club following his return from the World Cup.
The news of Wigglesworth's lengthy absence brings more disarray to an already troubled England camp, coming on the back of a statement from Richard Cockerill, Leicester's director of rugby, that Ben Youngs is not in a position to resume playing Premiership rugby, having returned from the World Cup with a knee injury.
Cockerill claimed that Youngs, England's first-choice No9, "left us four months ago fully fit and has come back with a pretty average knee" but McCall was keen to stress that there is no blame attached to the England coaching staff as far as Wigglesworth's injury is concerned. "I wouldn't try and tie Richard's injury into what happened at the World Cup," McCall said. "It was just one of those freak things."
Wigglesworth, who started England's opening pool match against Argentina at the World Cup before being replaced by Youngs for the subsequent four games, would have been expected to play a large part in England's defence of their Six Nations title next year.
"It's a massive blow for Richard," McCall said. "He's been phenomenal since he arrived at the club and has played his way from really being nowhere to getting into the England World Cup squad and being in their 23. I thought he had a great World Cup; he was one of the stand-out players for me anyway. To injure himself as he did in his first 20 minutes back with us is just a massive individual blow as I'm sure he would have been involved in the Six Nations."
It was supposed to be a momentous day for Saracens as they unveiled their new signing, the former South Africa captain John Smit. And such is the standing of the Springboks' most capped Test player that the overriding mood remained positive. Smit admitted that a year ago he thought he would retire from all rugby after the World Cup but was persuaded to join the ranks of South Africans who call London home.
"You can see that Saracens are a club that are looking to expand all the time," Smit said. "For me that's exciting and I can come here and try and fit in, play some rugby and train hard. At my age, and after what I've been allowed to do, that was an exciting chapter for me to step into."
The 33-year-old, who will challenge his compatriot Schalk Brits for the No2 shirt, believes that the influx of South Africans at the Premiership champions, as well as the club's decision to pay their Heineken Cup fixture against Biarritz in January in Cape Town, is making Saracens known throughout the world.
"From a televised point of view we see far more Saracens games on our local network [in South Africa] than any other Premiership team," he said. "It's a team that's widely known around South Africa and I think with this trip to Cape Town to play a Heineken Cup game it's another sign of the club expanding and trying to become a worldwide brand and not just a club in England. It's another reason why it's easy to choose a club like Saracens."
Smit is not ready for selection for Saturday's Premiership game at Gloucester but is likely to make his debut in either the home fixture against Sale Sharks on 6 November or the Heineken Cup game against Treviso the following week.
