McCarthy-Scarsbrook out of action for four months

Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook’s hopes of an England debut this summer have been wrecked by a broken wrist.

The 22-year-old Harlequins forward has been told that he will be out for four months with a fracture more complicated than was originally thought.

That would rule him out of the international against France in June, for which the London-born prop was being widely tipped.

“It’s a real blow for us as a team as well as for Louie individually,” said his coach, Brian McDermott.

“He’s been looking like a seasoned player and might have been set for a mid-season international spot.”

McCarthy-Scarsbrook suffered the injury in the 48-0 defeat at Leeds on Friday night. “When I got tackled, I put my arm out to support my fall, but another player landed on me and it went the wrong way,” he said. “Straight away I knew things were not good.”

Wigan’s notorious pitch is to be ripped up this summer, forcing the town’s rugby league team to play at least one home fixture elsewhere.

The playing surface at the JJB Stadium, which they share with Wigan Athletic, has been roundly criticized by visitors in both sports. Now the football club’s owner, Dave Whelan, is to spend up to £500,000 on replacing it.

That will mean that Super League games against Huddersfield on 6 June and Harlequins on 27 June are likely to be played at Bolton.

Wakefield’s Darrell Griffin could be on the receiving end of a ban totaling seven matches tonight. The front-rower is charged with abusing the referee, the offence for which he was sent off after the end of the match against Wigan on Sunday and also faces a charge of raining his knees in the tackle during the same game.

Wigan’s Stuart Fielden faces a similar charge of using his knees, whilst the League is still considering comments made by the Huddersfield coach, Jon Sharp, about the way in which the match was refereed.

The Castleford winger, Michael Wainwright, will miss their Easter programme after damaging his knee.