Big knock rules Raffi Quirke out again in latest injury set back

Raffi Quirke, the England international scrum half, faces a possible six week recovery period after breaking his jaw in the latest significant injury of his young career.

Quirke, 22, broke into the England squad under Eddie Jones, the former head coach, and made his debut as a replacement for Ben Youngs against Australia in 2021 becoming the youngest scrum half since Nick Duncombe to wear the England No9 jersey.

He came off the bench again in the match with South Africa, showing his pace with the winning try in a 27-26 victory at Twickenham.

However, injury set backs ruined his hopes of pushing for a place in the England squad for the Rugby World Cup in France and he now faces another battle to get back to the form that took him into the international squad.

Quirke was injured in the 20-15 win over Northampton on October 15 and Alex Sanderson, the Sale director of rugby, said: “Raffi has elastic bands on the back of his jaw and it is a fracture but a non displaced fracture. It is a four to six week period out and he is in a good place despite his concurrent injuries and this was another one out of his control. We will start to build him up again.”

Quirke was sidelined for six months after requiring an operation on a hamstring he pulled off the bone, making it back onto the pitch in October 2022. He then suffered a wrist injury which forced him to sit out yet more rugby.

Sanderson would not name the three World Cup players who have returned to training but that is likely to have included England’s Tom Curry and Argentina’s Agustin Creevy.

Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie is “close” to playing after having a further check up on his neck injury while Ben Curry has been fully training this week.

Sale, who were beaten 43-0 by Exeter last weekend, take on Gloucester at the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday night, will be without wing Tom O’Flaherty who has a groin injury.

“I had to take ownership about what I could have done differently," added Sanderson. "I got the reflections from the players and then you start to get it right.

“I don’t choose to use shame and embarrassment as tools. The hairdryer treatment is not sustainable after a poor performance and training this week has been energised."