England star Manu Tuilagi is out of the Autumn Nations Cup and next year's Six Nations after scans revealed he tore an Achilles playing for Sale against Northampton.
The blockbusting centre left the field early in the Premiership game on Tuesday night and scans have revealed he requires surgery.
Tuilagi will be sidelined for at least six months in a major blow to Eddie Jones, whose England side rely on the powerhouse back driving over the gainline with his charging runs through the midfield.
Sale boss Steve Diamond, who only signed Tuilagi from Leicester in July, had appeared resigned to the worst.
"It looks pretty significant. I don’t think it’s too clever," he said after Tuilagi limped out of Sale's game.
The subsequent medical scans have shown the damage Diamond feared to Tuilagi's leg.
England are also sweating on the fitness of Courtney Laws, who sustained an ankle injury in the same game.
Lawes will see a specialist on Thursday, but there are fears he too will be out of the autumn Tests.
After concluding their current Six Nations campaign with the re-arranged game against Italy, England head into an Autumn Nations Cup group that sees them do battle with Wales, Ireland and Georgia.
