Henry Slade injury: Not a very merry Christmas for Slade as hit ruins his Six Nations

The injury was suffered in Exeter Chiefs’ 41-27 Premiership win away to Wasps

Henry Slade (GETTY IMAGES)

The England centre Henry Slade is likely to miss the whole of the Six Nations Championship after undergoing an operation on his right leg yesterday to repair a suspected fracture suffered on Saturday in Exeter Chiefs’ 41-27 Premiership win away to Wasps.

As one of the country’s most exciting and talked-about playmakers, Slade had been a certainty to be named next month in England’s Six Nations squad, and short odds to start against Scotland in Edinburgh on 6 February.

“At the moment we have set no timescale on how long he will be sidelined for,” said Rob Baxter, the Exeter head coach, yesterday, but even a straightforward break would be likely to require two months’ rest.

Slade’s vision and kicking skills make him a possible choice at No 10, 12 or 13. He made his Test debut in a friendly at home to France in August but played only once in the World Cup, against Uruguay in a dead rubber in Manchester, as Jonathan Joseph, Brad Barritt and Sam Burgess were picked ahead of him, and was thus untainted by England’s pool-stage exit. In fact, his stock rose as a result of not being picked. At 22 he is expected to help shape a new era under incoming head coach Eddie Jones.

Slade was hurt in the final quarter of the match in Coventry, a victim of the same kind of exposed position that robbed Rhys Webb, the Wales scrum-half, of his World Cup chances with a similar injury in August, and has previously interrupted the promising careers of Saracens flanker Will Fraser and Wasps wing Christian Wade.

The Wasps replacement Alapati Leiua was tackled to the ground by Exeter’s Ian Whitten, and Slade arrived as the second man with his legs splayed to support his weight as he leant over Leiua and grappled for the ball. In turn, Wasps’ Sailosi Tagicakibau and George Smith came in at pace to clear Slade away but, with his right foot planted, their combined force went through his lower leg and bent it beyond its tolerance. An X-ray in Exeter confirmed the need for surgery.

“Henry is a very talented footballer and a good character. He does a great job for us and if he is out for a long time he will be a big miss,” said Thomas Waldrom, the Exeter and England No 8 who otherwise had a dream evening, scoring his first three tries of the season after he had topped last year’s Premiership chart with 16. “I like him because he puts his body on the line for the team and everyone sees that. [But] we missed Dave Ewers and Don Armand [from the back row] and other boys stood up. That’s what’s got to happen. These are influential guys who are the backbone of our team but we have to stand up and be accountable now.”

Exeter’s cover for Slade includes Michele Campagnaro, the Italy back, while Wade recently returned to the Wasps list of crocks with a foot injury that will keep the once-capped England wing out until late January at the earliest. On the upside, Wasps’ director of rugby Dai Young expects England forwards James Haskell and Joe Launchbury to be fit from shoulder and hamstring problems respectively to face Bath this Sunday at the start of home-and-away back-to-back fixtures in Europe.

Similarly, Exeter will take on Clermont Auvergne, the 2013 and 2015 finalists, in Devon on Saturday and France the following weekend. “It will show us where we are, then we come back to the Premiership,” said Waldrom, who resisted resorting to superstition to halt his try-less run, and profited handsomely from Exeter’s impressively tight driving and rolling mauls. “I thought I might change my boots or something because it wasn’t working but I decided to give it one more chance and I’m glad I did.”

Mitch Lees, the second row, also scored from a line-out drive for Exeter, who had six tries in all, while Frank Halai, Ashley Johnson and Lorenzo Cittadini went over for Wasps during a 13-minute rally either side of half-time that turned a 27-6 deficit into 27-27. “We came down to earth with a bump,” said Young, at the end of a run of five wins in six matches that included beating Bath, Gloucester, Leinster and Toulon.

Baxter again distanced himself from any job with England, but Waldrom said: “England is an achievement he wants to get to one day; it depends when he wants to take it, I imagine. He enjoys what he is doing at Exeter and I think we’ve got a lot more to achieve. He is a top man, with his people skills and the way he directs us. It’s hard to put into words but he knows what Exeter is and what he is trying to do, and doesn’t go away from that.”