Wilkinson faces long lay-off with injury

Jonny Wilkinson faces several weeks out following Saturday's brutal game against South Africa, but there was better news for his team-mate Jason Robinson. Wilkinson, England's fly-half, damaged his shoulder in the challenge for which Jannes Labuschagne was sent off, and was due to undergo further medical tests yesterday.

Robinson was also seen by a specialist yesterday, in his case to examine the perforated ear drum he suffered against the Springboks, and he has been referred for a hearing test. But the Sale full-back may well be back for his club for their Premiership game against Bath on Friday.

Over in South Africa, as the Springboks arrived home, an unrepentant national captain Corne Krige said yesterday he did not regard England very highly. "I do not rate them that much," Krige said on arriving home following the Springboks' record 53-3 defeat at Twickenham on Saturday. "I think they can be taken."

The South Africa coach, Rudolf Straeuli, was less bullish, promising that there would be casualties from his side's tour of Europe and revealing that a number of players had played themselves out of World Cup contention. "I won't go into names, but there are guys that failed who can now be removed from the planning," he said. "I brought players here to look at them, to see if they had what it takes and I left other players at home because I wanted them to recover from injuries. The World Cup can be our only focus." Straeuli will name a 45-man World Cup squad within weeks, hinting at which players could fall by the wayside.