Six Nations: Courtney Lawes ruled out for at least four weeks with calf strain but avoids serious injury

Scans revealed that Lawes suffered a calf strain and will miss at least four weeks

Courtney Lawes will miss the rest of the Six Nations after being sidelined for at least a month with a calf strain, although the lay-off is perhaps not as bad as initially feared when the England lock was carried off the field during the defeat by Wales.

The Northampton Saints second-row was one of England’s key defenders during Saturday’s 21-13 defeat in Cardiff, but failed to see out the match as he was left in agony on the turf in is closing stages.

Lawes was seen to attempt to get back to his feet, only to collapse when he was unable to put any weight on his right leg, and after receiving on-field treatment he was carried from the field by the England physios.

However, a scan on Sunday revealed that while the injury is bad enough to keep him out of the final two Six Nations games against Italy and Scotland, the damage is only a strain and not a tear, ensuring that he could return in late-March as opposed to suffering a season-ending season.

An England update in Sunday read: “Courtney Lawes will miss the rest of the Guinness Six Nations due to a calf strain sustained yesterday in Cardiff.

“Following results of his scan this afternoon, Lawes is expected to be out for a minimum of four weeks. He will return to his club for rehabilitation.”

Lawes was injured with five minutes remaining of the Cardiff encounter as England trailed Wales 16-13, and although there was still time for the visitors to salvage their Grand Slam aspirations, Josh Adams’ 79th-minute try killed off the contest and secured famous victory for the Welsh - their record-breaking 12th consecutive win.

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His absence may not cause Eddie Jones too much of a selection issue though as Maro Itoje is nearing a comeback from damaging knee ligaments in the championship-opening victory over Ireland. Lawes was initially brought into the starting line-up to replace Itoje, but after spending the last two weeks with the England camp, the Saracens lock could be return for the visit of Italy to Twickenham in two weekend’s time - ensuring Jones does not have to draft in any additional reinforcements this week.

“He’s coming along well,” Jones said. “He might have a chance (versus Italy). I might have to give him the hurry-up, because we’ve lost Courtney.”

Lawes suffered a bad-looking injury to his right leg during England's defeat by Wales (Reuters)

Despite losing Lawes to injury, Jones did not feel that it was an excuse for the late try that killed off England’s chances. With Joe Launchbury already on for George Kruis, Jones was forced to put a back-row in at lock for the second time in three games, with Brad Shields deployed out of position to plug the gap in the pack.

“We’ve got to be able to cope with that,” Jones said. “We’ve lost three of our best forwards and we’ve got to be able to cope with that.”