Jonny May’s participation in England’s Six Nations hinges on a visit to a specialist this week, with the Gloucester wing set to miss at least the opening two rounds.
An ongoing knee problem has got progressively worse, resulting in his absence against Perpignan on Saturday and subsequent withdrawal from Eddie Jones’ 36-man training squad.
May has been an ever-present under Jones since 2017 and is an influential member of the backline, creating a highlights reel of spectacular tries, but he now faces a race against time to involved in England’s title quest.
The February 26 showdown with Wales at Twickenham is the earliest he will be back, but the country’s second most prolific try-scorer behind Rory Underwood could also be looking at a lengthier lay-off.
“Jonny’s seeing some people this week, but it will definitely be a good couple of weeks. He’s seeing the best of the best,” Gloucester head coach George Skivington said.
“He’s had a niggle for a little while and it kept him out of one game a few weeks ago. It’s just been chipping away and it got to a point where it wasn’t great, so we decided to get it investigated.
The hope is that he will still play in the Six Nations
“Once we know exactly what the story is we’ll have a better idea about the injury. It would have been one incident a few weeks ago, but he’s been managing his way through it, as generally speaking senior players do, and it just got a little too much.
“The hope is that he will still play in the Six Nations. If he can back involved in the Six Nations then great. It’s unfortunate for Jonny because we’d like to see him playing for England.
“There aren’t too many who will nail their rehab like Jonny. He’s on it every day anyway when he’s fully fit, doing all his pre-hab. When he comes back I’m sure he’ll be absolutely flying.”
