The round one Six Nations Injured XV

The 2023 Guinness Six Nations is all set to kick off in Cardiff on Saturday afternoon, with matches in London and Rome following over the course of the round one weekend. However, away from the action, spare a thought for this stellar list of Injured XV Six Nations players who won't be playing:

Six Nations Injured XV

15. Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)

The Welsh veteran was chosen to start against Ireland having been named by Warren Gatland as the No15 on Tuesday. However, a back spasm ruled him out on Thursday, his place in the starting line-up instead going to Liam Williams. Elliot Daly is another absentee. The Saracens full-back seriously damaged a hamstring versus Edinburgh on January 22 and a 12-week rehab scuppered his selection in Steve Borthwick’s England squad.

14. Darcy Graham (Scotland)

Scored four tries in four Autumn Nations Series starts but hasn’t made the start line for Scotland’s Six Nations campaign due to a medial collateral ligament knee injury sustained in an early December club match for Edinburgh in the URC.

13. Henry Slade (England)

Call it bad karma. A red card sustained on Champions Cup duty for Exeter on January 14 in Pretoria could have seen him miss the start of the Six Nations through suspension. Instead, that harsh sending-off was rescinded at his disciplinary hearing, freeing him to play in the following weekend’s match versus Castres. It was here, though, that Slade picked up the hip injury that ruled him out of the England squad as the problem didn’t recover sufficiently in time.

12. Robbie Henshaw (Ireland)

It’s been an injury-hit season for the Irish midfielder, high-profile woe that began when a hamstring problem meant he had to surrender the No12 jersey to face South Africa the day before the game. He then pulled up lame in the opening minutes the following week versus Fiji and his winter soon went from bad to worse due to him needing a wrist operation. France’s Jonathan Danty is another marked absent this weekend following the New Year’s Eve knee injury sustained with La Rochelle.

11. Gabin Villiere (France)

The Toulon winger lit up last year’s French charge towards the Grand Slam, scoring four tries in his four starts, but that momentum has since hit the buffers with two ankle operations and a hand problem restricting him to just two games this term for his club and none with France. Encouragingly, that second appearance came just last weekend versus Pau, resulting in his immediate call-up to the France squad but he has since suffered another setback with the ankle.

10. Paolo Garbisi (Italy)

Italy named the out-half in their Six Nations in the hope that he would fully recover from the knee problem sustained in December with Montpellier, but it hasn't come right in time and Tommaso Allan will wear No10 on Sunday in Rome.

9. Maxime Lucu (France)

The bench backup to Antoine Dupont during all five French matches in last year’s championship, he started the final match of their November series versus Japan. However, he has been injured since last month’s Bordeaux trip to the Durban-based Sharks in the Champions Cup.

1. Ivan Nemer (Italy)

The Italian prop isn’t an injury absentee but with the general health of looseheads across the Six Nations in good nick apart from France’s Jean-Baptiste Gros, we have improvised to fill this position and it goes to Nemer, the Benetton player who has been banned until the end of June for the racist secret Santa gift he gave in December to Cherif Traore, his club and country colleague.

2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (England)

There are multiple names to pencil in here. Aside from Cowan-Dickie, whose ankle injury with Exeter last month ruled him out of the entire tournament, France backup Peato Mauvaka (hand) is also missing as is Ireland’s Ronan Kelleher (hamstring) and Wales’ Dewi Lake (knee).

3. Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)

Much like his club and country colleague Henshaw, it has so far been a miserable injury-hit 2022/23 for the Irish tighthead who has suffered a sequence of setbacks. The latest - his calf - means he missed his team’s opener in Wales, with his position going to Finlay Bealham, an alternative who has only started four times in his 27-cap career.

4. Cameron Woki (France)

The lock has become so important to France in recent times, starting in all their big matches in 2021/2022 and also the recent Autumn Nations Series. However, a broken wrist sustained last month when playing for Racing versus Harlequins has now stopped that impressive run.

5. David Sisi (Italy)

The second row may no longer be a regular Italian starter, coming off the bench in five of his past six appearances, but he won’t be around to add ballast as a replacement in his team’s upcoming matches following December surgery in Wales on his right ankle following an injury when playing for Zebre.

6. Courtney Lawes (England)

It has not been the best of times of late for Lawes. Concussion sidelined him from England’s four-game Autumn Nations Series and now a calf injury has ruled him out of the start of the Six Nations.

7. Tom Curry (England)

A hamstring tear sustained last month on Gallagher Premiership duty with Sale in London has sidelined the England back-rower until round three at a minimum, but there has been a silver lining as the injury opened the door for his twin brother Ben to be called up and he will start versus Scotland.

8. Toa Halafihi (Italy)

A starter in every Italian game in last year’s championship, he seriously damaged a hamstring when featuring as a sub in the November win over Australia.