Alex Sanderson has confirmed that Luke Cowan-Dickie and Bevan Rodd both suffered season-ending injuries in Sale\u2019s Saturday night Investec Champions Cup win at Harlequins.<\/p>\n
Sanderson\u2019s Sharks put an end to their four-match PREM Rugby\/European run of defeats by getting the better of their domestic league rivals Quins in London by a scoreline of 26-17.<\/p>\n
England hooker Cowan-Dickie<\/a> was pivotal to the success, scoring two tries, while George Ford, his club and country colleague, added 16 points from the boot to qualify the Manchester club for the Champions Cup quarter-finals<\/a>.<\/p>\n With Leinster<\/a> expected to defeat Edinburgh on Sunday evening, that result will see Sale travelling to Ireland next weekend, but that is a trip they will have to make minus the services of Cowan-Dickie and fellow front-rower Bevan Rodd.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s probably their season over\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n A dampener was put on Sale\u2019s win at The Stoop when it emerged in the aftermath that Cowan-Dickie had broken either his wrist or his forearm, while loosehead Rodd dislocated their shoulder.<\/p>\n Director of rugby Sanderson described both injuries as season-ending, ruling the front-rowers out of the six remaining matches in the PREM and next weekend\u2019s European assignment.<\/p>\n He also added that the pair were unlikely to be fit in time to tour with England in July. Steve Borthwick\u2019s national team have three matches lined up in the opening part of the new Nations Championship, starting away to South Africa in Johannesburg on July 4.<\/p>\n They also have matches against Fiji in Liverpool on July 11 and against Argentina in Santiago del Estero on July 18.<\/p>\n Harlequins v Sale Sharks: Five takeaways as George Ford masterclass secures last-eight spot but \u2018hulking\u2019 Chandler Cunningham-South cameo leaves \u2018fair question\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Bath v Saracens: Five takeaways as \u2018Thomas the Tank\u2019 sparks recovery while Itoje\u2019s men restore \u2018self-respect\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Cowan-Dickie and Rodd featured in all five of England\u2019s recent Six Nations<\/a> matches, with the hooker starting twice and playing off the bench on three occasions, while the loosehead was a substitute in all five matches. Their likely unavailability now leaves Borthwick with a headache.<\/p>\n \u201cLuke is a tough boy and he believes he\u2019s broken his wrist or forearm,\u201d explained Sanderson following Saturday night\u2019s Champions Cup<\/a> final whistle in London.<\/p>\n \u201cBevan dislocated his shoulder but had it put back in on the field, but I think that\u2019s probably their season over with the summer tour for England also in jeopardy.\u201d<\/p>\n Cowan-Dickie shared the Test-level hooker duties with Jamie George, with Theo Dan an unused member in their Six Nations squad. Rodd, meanwhile, provided back-up to Ellis Genge across the tournament with Fin Baxter unavailable through injury since last December.<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as\u00a0a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n