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Owen Farrell has been ruled out of England's entire RBS 6 Nations campaign with a knee injury.
The Saracens fly-half, who was expected to supply midfield cover from the bench, suffered a high grade medial ligament strain in Sunday's European Champions Cup defeat at Clermont
"It's a real shame for Owen that he sustained this injury and we wish him the best for his recovery," head coach Stuart Lancaster said.
European Champions Cup in picturesShow all 55 1 /55European Champions Cup in pictures European Champions Cup in pictures Northampton Saints 8 Racing Metro 32 Benjamin Lapeyre celebrates with his Racing Metro team-mates
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European Champions Cup in pictures Northampton Saints 8 Racing Metro 32 Juan Imhoff scores for Racing Metro
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European Champions Cup in pictures Northampton Saints 8 Racing Metro 32 Dylan Hartley sits on the bench after being sin-binned in Northampton's defeat to Racing Metro
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European Champions Cup in pictures Northampton Saints 8 Racing Metro 32 Tom Wood looks on in dejection after suffering and ankle injury
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European Champions Cup in pictures Wasps 20 Leinster 20 Nathan Hughes scores for Wasps in the 20-20 draw with Leinster
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European Champions Cup in pictures Wasps 20 Leinster 20 Andy Goode reacts to his missed drop goal in the final play of the 20-20 draw between Wasps and Leinster
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European Champions Cup in pictures Wasps 20 Leinster 20 Tom Varndell closes in on the try line
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European Champions Cup in pictures Wasps 20 Leinster 20 Rob Kearney attempts to ride the tackle from Christian Wade
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European Champions Cup in pictures Castres 17 Harlequins 47 Nick Easter in action for Harlequins in the win over Castres
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European Champions Cup in pictures Castres 17 Harlequins 47 Marland Yarde scores on of Harlequins' seven tries
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European Champions Cup in pictures Castres 17 Harlequins 47 Nick Evans seeks a team-mate as he breaks the Castres line
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European Champions Cup in pictures Castres 17 Harlequins 47 Harlequins' pack carries the ball forwards towards the line
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European Champions Cup in pictures Ospreys 9 Northampton Saints 20 George North breaks through the Ospreys defence to score for Northampton on Sunday
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European Champions Cup in pictures Toulouse 18 Bath 35 Francois Louw scored Bath’s final try against Toulouse to earn a bonus-point win on Sunday
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European Champions Cup in pictures Toulon 60 Ulster 22 Nicolas Sanchez dives over the line for a try
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European Champions Cup in pictures Toulon 60 Ulster 22 Mathieu Bastareuad barrells his way over for a try against Ulster
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European Champions Cup in pictures Toulon 60 Ulster 22 Bryan Habana touches the ball down for one of Toulon's eight tries
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European Champions Cup in pictures Saracens 33 Munster 10 Chris Ashton celebrates a try against Munster
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European Champions Cup in pictures Saracens 33 Munster 10 Billy Vunipola evades the clutches of Dave Foley
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European Champions Cup in pictures Saracens 33 Munster 10 Jacques Burger and Peter O'Mahony clash during Saracens' win over Munster
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European Champions Cup in pictures Leicester 40 Scarlets 23 Harry Robinson scored two tries in response for the Scarlets
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European Champions Cup in pictures Leicester 40 Scarlets 23 Tom Youngs slides in for his second try of the match
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European Champions Cup in pictures Leicester 40 Scarlets 23 Julian Salvi attempts to sneak around the fringe of the scrum to tackle Rob McCusker
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European Champions Cup in pictures Clermont Auvergne 26 Munster 19 Peter O'Mahony tackles Aurelien Rougerie
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European Champions Cup in pictures Wasps 44 Castres 17 Wasps’ Tom Varndell scores his second try
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European Champions Cup in pictures Wasps 44 Castres 17 Fans say their farewells to Adams' Park
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European Champions Cup in pictures Saracens 28 Sale Sharks 15 Alex Goode scores in the corner for Saracens
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European Champions Cup in pictures Saracens 28 Sale Sharks 15 George Kruis tries to barge his way over scrum-half Will Cliff
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European Champions Cup in pictures Toulon 23 Leicester Tigers 8 Mathieu Bastareaud dives in for Toulon's second try
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European Champions Cup in pictures Toulon 23 Leicester Tigers 8 Leigh Halfpenny tries to sidestep Ben Youngs
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European Champions Cup in pictures Toulon 23 Leicester Tigers 8 Mathieu Bastareaud tries to barge his way over Vereniki Goneva
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European Champions Cup in pictures Toulon 23 Leicester Tigers 8 Blaine Scully dives over in the corner to score for the Tigers
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European Champions Cup in pictures Bath 32 Montpellier 12 Bath’s Matt Banahan (centre) and Sam Burgess (left) team up to send the former over for his first of three tries
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European Champions Cup in pictures Leicester 25 Toulon 21 Owen Williams kicked 20 points to end Toulon's nine-game unbeaten run in Europe
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European Champions Cup in pictures Harlequins 24 Leinster 18 Harlequins Nick Easter and Luke Wallace hold up Jimmy Gopperth of Leinster
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European Champions Cup in pictures Castres 17 Wasps 32 Andy Goode kicked 12 points in the win
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European Champions Cup in pictures Ospreys 19 Racing Metro 19 Fijian Josh Matavesi scores the Ospreys’ crucial late try
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European Champions Cup in pictures Benetton Treviso 15 Northampton Saints 38 Luther Burrell scores Saints' fourth try
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European Champions Cup in pictures Benetton Treviso 15 Northampton Saints 38 Ben Foden touches down to scores Northampton's third try against Treviso
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European Champions Cup in pictures Benetton Treviso 15 Northampton Saints 38 Samu Manoa celebrates after getting the ball rolling by scoring Saints' first
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European Champions Cup in pictures Sale Sharks 15 Saracens 19 Saracens celebrate after Owen Farrell scores in the 19-15 win over Sale
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European Champions Cup in pictures Sale Sharks 15 Saracens 19 Andrei Ostrikov scores for Sale against Saracens
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European Champions Cup in pictures Montpellier 5 Bath 30 George Ford kicked 15 points as Bath strolled to victory
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European Champions Cup in pictures Northampton Saints 34 Ospreys 6 George North of Northampton Saints scores the first try during the European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 5 match between Northampton Saints and Ospreys
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European Champions Cup in pictures Ulster 13 Toulon 23 Toulon's English wing Delon Armitage scores his team's second try during the European Rugby Champions Cup match between Ulster and Toulon
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European Champions Cup in pictures Bath 19 Toulouse 21 Dave Attwood of Bath pushes in a scrum as Imanol Harinordoquy (L) and Timoci Matanavou of Toulouse
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European Champions Cup in pictures Leicester Tigers 25 Ulster 18 Owen Williams of Leicester Tigers in action during the Aviva Premiership match between Leicester Tigers and Harlequins at Welford Road
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European Champions Cup in pictures Racing Metro 20 Northampton Saints 13 Northampton’s No 9 Kahn Fotuali’i passes from a scrum
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European Champions Cup in pictures Glasgow Warriors 37 Bath 10 Busting the line: Glasgow No 8 Adam Ashe makes a break
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European Champions Cup in pictures Saracens 30 Clermont Auvergne 23 Chris Ashton capitalises on an error to score the match winning try
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European Champions Cup in pictures Saracens 30 Clermont Auvergne 23 David Strettle touches down for a try in the corner
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European Champions Cup in pictures Saracens 30 Clermont Auvergne 23 Zac Guildford scores a try to stretch Clermont's lead
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European Champions Cup in pictures Sale Sharks 26 Munster 27 Munster players celebrate the victory over Sale after a late drop-goal from Ian Keatley
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European Champions Cup in pictures Harlequins 25 Castres 9 England team-mates Danny Care and Marland Yarde celebrates after the scrum-half scores a try
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European Champions Cup in pictures Harlequins 25 Castres 9 Nick Evans kicks a conversion during Quins' opening European match at the Twickenham Stoop
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Farrell's absence has opened the door for Danny Cipriani to claim a place on the bench against Wales on Friday week with George Ford starting the Championship opener at the Millennium Stadium.
Cipriani is competing with Stephen Myler to supply cover for Ford and will have a week's training at the squad's Pennyhill Park training base to argue his case for selection.
"We are fortunate to have three other number 10s in the squad in what is a very competitive position and are looking forward to seeing how they go during the Six Nations," Lancaster said.
Brad Barritt
(Getty Images)
The medical bulletin issued on Tuesday afternoon was less conclusive on England's other outstanding injury concerns amid reports that Brad Barritt will also miss the whole of the Six Nations with a knee problem.
Barritt is receiving treatment for knee ligament damage as Lancaster comes to terms with yet another injury crisis with his midfield hit hardest on this occasion.
A possible replacement for Barritt is Kyle Eastmond, but the Bath inside centre is nursing a shoulder problem and is also a doubt for the opener in Cardiff.
Manu Tuilagi is expected to miss the entire Championship with a chronic groin condition, but offering some comfort is Luther Burrell's expected return to training on Friday once he has recovered from concussion.
Further doubts hang over lock Geoff Parling and flanker Tom Wood, who sustained respective knee and ankle injuries in a costly final round of European group action.
Manu Tuilagi is expected to miss the majority of the tournament
(Getty Images)
A more definitive verdict on Barritt, Eastmond, Parling and Wood is expected at Wednesday morning's Six Nations launch in London, which Lancaster is due to attend alongside skipper Chris Robshaw.
"We will continue to assess and treat the other players' injuries," Lancaster said.
PA
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