Jack Nowell’s season in doubt after suffering broken arm against France

Jack Nowell faces a battle to play again this season after sustaining a broken arm in England’s Guinness Six Nations defeat by France on Saturday.

Nowell incurred the damage when falling to the ground after challenging for the ball in the first-half of the climax to the Championship in Paris and faces up to two months of rehabilitation.

The Exeter wing will have the operation alongside a procedure to fix a thumb injury and his future involvement this term hinges on whether the Chiefs reach the knockout phase of the Gallagher Premiership.

“Jack’s got a broken arm so that’s going to be that six to eight week period. He’s having that further assessed in more detail today (Thursday),” director of rugby Rob Baxter said.

“He’ll also be having an operation on thumb ligaments that was impending anyway. He was probably going to hang on until the end of the season to get that done. The recovery time for the two is roughly the same and he’ll get them done in one go.

“Jack’s got a chance for the end of the season, but really that probably depends on how we go over the next number of weeks.”

It is the latest setback in a career blighted by injury and comes as Nowell was four appearances into his Test return having not played since the 2019 World Cup until this Six Nations.

“This one in particular you have to say is unlucky because he’s been bobbing along this season without too many issues,” Baxter said.

Jack's got a chance for the end of the season, but really that probably depends on how we go over the next number of weeks- Jack Nowell

“A broken arm out of the blue is not an alert for overloading or playing with an injury. It’s one of those things and he’s just been very unfortunate. He’s landed badly and broken his arm.

“Jack is