Italian talisman's Twickenham trip in doubt following latest injury update

Sergio Parisse is a doubt for Italy’s round four Guinness Six Nations match against England after he failed to recover from concussion in time to play for Stade Francais in Sunday’s big Top 14 fixture versus leaders Toulouse. 

The Italian skipper suffered the knock to his head a fortnight ago when lining out for his club as a substitute in their French league defeat to Lyon.

He was quickly ruled out of Italian selection to face Ireland, the Azzurri reporting on the Tuesday of last week that he he had suffered a setback on the second stage when following the return to play protocols.

Parisse remained on in Rome with his country and watched from the sidelines as they came close to causing a major upset against the defending Six Nations champions.

He returned to Paris on Monday to continue his rehabilitation, but he still hasn’t full recovered as Stade, who lie 16 points behind Toulouse on the Top 14 table, have reported that he needs to take additional exams in the coming days to determine the exact day that he can return to play.  

The 35-year-old has represented the Italians on 135 occasions, but he has featured in just two of their last nine matches having been excluded from their 2018 June tour to Japan and their four-match November series leading into this year’s Six Nations. 

Parisse led the team in their defeats to Scotland and Wales before sitting out last Sunday’s round three match against the Irish where Conor O’Shea’s charges had a sniff of finally ending a 20-game run without a win in the Six Nations.

This year is thought to be the veteran No8’s last at Test level as he is expected to retire from Italian duty following the Wold Cup where they have been pitted in a pool against defending champions New Zealand, South Africa, Namibia and Canada.