Forward injuries hit Northampton

Northampton have been in pipe-and-slippers mode for much of the Premiership campaign – insufficiently consistent to challenge for a place in the Twickenham grand final, nowhere near bad enough to join the dead-beats currently trying to plot a route through the thicket of last-ditch relegation scraps. All the same, they could have done without losing two hardened tight forwards, the honest-to-goodness Jon Phillips and the brilliant double Lion Tom Smith, at this late stage in the proceedings.

Phillips, who last played in the victory over Bristol a fortnight ago, is suffering from a fractured rib; Smith, who played in the narrow defeat at Newcastle on 20 April, has a fractured toe. Neither will play again this term, and as a result, the Midlanders must fill a hole in the second row and conjure a new loose-head prop out of thin air before facing Harlequins and Leeds over the next 11 days.

These games are more important than Northampton's mid-table position – fifth out of 12, a point behind Leicester in fourth and all square with Leeds – might suggest. As things stand, only the top four in the Premiership are guaranteed a place in next season's Heineken Cup, although a Wasps victory in next month's Parker Pen Challenge Cup final will open things up for the fifth-placed finishers. Should Leicester and Leeds force the Saints into sixth, they will have to take their chances in the new Zurich Wildcard event, a commitment they could well do without.

Smith, arguably the leading loose-head specialist in world rugby, was not the only spherical Scottish prop in the news yesterday. His predecessor in the national side, Dave Hilton, claimed he had not been offered a new contract by Glasgow, and was therefore on his way out of Hughenden. Not so, according to the chief executive of the club, David Jordan, who said: "We are in discussions with a number of players as to their futures, but some people are jumping the gun a wee bit." Be that as it may, it is difficult to envisage Hilton playing many more games in Old Firm territory.

Meanwhile, England and South Africa set about building up Australia's chances of retaining the World Cup in Sydney in November, presumably as part of a plan to lull the Wallabies into a false sense of home-town security. The England coach, Clive Woodward, in Melbourne preparing for the forthcoming tournament conference, described Australia as "the best team in the world" on the basis that they are the reigning champions. (No matter, apparently, that their performance levels have diminished since winning the Webb Ellis Trophy in Cardiff three and a half years ago).

For his part, the Springbok coach, Rudi Straeuli, counselled against taking the poor Australian showing in the current Super 12 competition as evidence of decline. "Their three provincial teams are rebuilding, but they have enough quality players to be competitive – more than competitive – come World Cup time," he said.