Andrew Sheridan does not have the foggiest idea what the future might hold for him. "Of course there are concerns," admitted the England prop, ruled out of this tournament one match in, after suffering another of his depressingly frequent shoulder injuries. "If it turns out that I need an operation, it will be my fourth bout of shoulder surgery in two years. I'll have to weigh up all the evidence once I've seen the specialist."
Sheridan deserves so much better. After shifting heaven and earth to recover from unsatisfactory surgery on his right shoulder – he required what is euphemistically known in the medical profession as a "revision operation" – he has now done something nasty to his left one.
"I'm extremely disappointed," continued the Lions loose head, who complained of growing discomfort after the narrow victory over Argentina last weekend. "I don't know the extent of it, I can't even remember exactly when in the game I did it. It could just be inflammation but, realistically, if there wasn't a tear I wouldn't be going home."
The question now is whether England have the faintest notion of who their number one No 1 should be. There are two contenders: the young London Irish prop Alex Corbisiero, who performed so well against such intimidating opponents as Martin Castrogiovanni of Italy and Nicolas Mas of France during this year's Six Nations, and Matt Stevens of Saracens, who has returned fitter, stronger, more focused and a whole lot happier in mind and spirit following his two-year drugs ban.
Both men are good technicians and both have some football about them. Stevens' off-loading game, first developed during his spell at Bath, is worth its weight in gold in modern-day rugby, while Corbisiero's ability to take difficult passes and give good ones is equally striking. At 29, Stevens has had his share of rough passages in the scrum and survived to tell the tale. At 23, Corbisiero experienced a difficult hour or so against Mike Ross of Ireland in the Grand Slam match at Lansdowne Road last March, yet finished so strongly that all questions about his competitive make-up were answered there and then.
There are even similarities in their far-flung backgrounds, Stevens having made a career for himself in English rugby after being raised in his native South Africa and Corbisiero having been born in New York and represented the USA at age-group level. Neither man is overtly aggressive; neither comes across as the stereotypical troglodyte front-rower in conversation. In many ways, they both represent a new breed of professional prop: smart, multi-faceted, rather sophisticated.
If one thing separates them, it is Stevens' greater versatility. Corbisiero has done many a turn on the tight-head side of the scrum at club level, but the World Cup-winning England prop Jason Leonard believes he is far more comfortable on the left of the scrum than on the right.
His rival, on the other hand, is the real deal when it comes to mixing and matching roles. Stevens has played most of his Test rugby as a tight head, but helped Saracens to a first Premiership title last season from the loose-head position.
This makes him a priceless asset on the bench, in that he allows Martin Johnson, the manager, to make his front-row substitutions on the basis of events unfolding before his eyes, rather than stick rigidly to a pre-planned set of changes. In short, Stevens is bound to be an important figure for as long as England stay in the tournament.
That said, if Corbisiero starts against the powerful Georgian scrummagers in Dunedin in three days' time and emerges in one piece, he too could have a very significant role to play in the coming weeks. This World Cup was always going to be long; the props also know just how hard it will get.
Head to head
Matt Stevens
Age: 28
Height: 6ft 2in
Weight: 19st 3lb
Clubs: Bath, Saracens
Appearances: 133
Points: 70
England caps: 32
Debut: New Zealand (away), 12 Jun 2004
Alex Corbisiero
Age: 23
Height: 6ft 1in
Weight: 18st 8lb
Club: London Irish
Appearances: 56
Points: 25
England caps: 4
Debut: Italy (home), 12 Feb 2011
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