Flanker

England flanker Tom Curry has undergone wrist surgery and will miss the start of the new Premiership season with Sale, but could be fit for the Autumn Nations Series in November.

Curry had an operation on a long-standing wrist ligament injury after returning from the British and Irish Lions’ series victory in Australia and will be absent for the start of Sale’s campaign, which begins against Gloucester on Thursday, 25 September.

But he has an outside chance of being fit for England’s autumn fixtures against Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina.

“You are more likely to see him in an England shirt than you are a Sale shirt,” said Sale’s director of rugby Alex Sanderson.

“His return to play sits him somewhere around the Autumn Internationals.

“But you never know. He has a habit of defying comeback dates and what surgeons say. He’s on good form, healing well, dead positive.”

Curry navigated his way through six matches for the Lions despite his wrist injury.

He revealed he had a new cast fitted in Australia following the Lions’ shock defeat by Argentina in Dublin.

“We had this cast which we had to change in Sydney, because we realised that I wasn’t actually catching many balls,” he said.

“We had this thick one that covered my palm and it was really tough because I had to catch [the ball] with my fingertips. I remember playing in the Argentina game and I kept dropping it.”

England begin their campaign against Australia at Allianz Stadium on Saturday, 1 November.

Four Saints players were named in Farrell’s squad with Tommy Freeman, Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith all joining Pollock, who watched the announcement with a number of his team-mates.

“I walked out of the room and tried to phone my mum, who didn’t pick up which was class,” he joked.

“I then called mum and dad and they were balling their eyes out crying.

“I am just so happy that I’ve made them happy, I am honoured.”

Pollock was selected instead of Toulouse flanker Jack Willis, Sale Sharks’ Ben Curry and Scotland’s Rory Darge, with Farrell admitting that, in the end, he did not need convincing about selecting the one-cap flanker.

An all-action display on both sides of the ball against Leinster, who have 12 players heading on the Lions tour, showed Pollock can compete with the best and he plans to show that in Australia.

He faces tough back row competition in Ireland’s Jack Conan and Josh van der Flier, England pair Tom Curry and Ben Earl, and Wales captain Jac Morgan, but remains confident of adding value.

“It is the pinnacle of the sport and everything that you work for and want to achieve in rugby,” he added.

“I hope to bring a different X-factor and just be myself. I am not going to go there and go into my shell, I am just going to be myself and hopefully bring a different side to the squad than other players.”