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Ollie Chessum ruled out of England's series against All Blacks
By Josh Raisey
England and Leicester Tigers lock Ollie Chessum has been ruled out of the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair an ongoing injury.
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The 23-year-old will not only be ruled out of Leicester’s remaining fixtures in the Gallagher Premiership, but will also miss England’s fixture against Japan in June and two-match series against the All Blacks in July.
While this is a damaging blow for both Leicester and England, Chessum’s club allayed fears that this is a long-term injury by assuring fans he is expected to be back in time for round one of the Premiership season in September.
The 23-cap international is expected to start his rehabilitation shortly having already undergone a successful operation.
While Leicester’s hopes of making the Premiership play-offs are over with two rounds remaining, this is a huge blow for England head coach Steve Borthwick.
Chessum started in all five of England’s Guinness Six Nations fixtures this year in either the back row or second row, and would have been expected to start against the All Blacks in New Zealand.
Leicester, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back from their late loss to Bristol Bears in their last Premiership outing when they take on Sale Sharks on Friday at the Salford Community Stadium.
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The 21-19 loss to the Bears at Welford Road, where Leicester squandered a 19-7 lead in the final six minutes, put an end to Dan McKellar’s side’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
“We’ve had some honest conversations as a group since Bristol and we’re working hard to address the areas we need to improve but we’ve still got a lot to play for over these next two weeks,” McKellar said ahead of this weekend’s action.
“We can’t change Bristol, or this season, but we can put in two eighty-minute performances in these next two games that we can be proud of.”
