England
Launchbury behind neck injury recovery schedule
ESPN Staff
December 14, 2014
Joe Launchbury's recovery from an injury is behind schedule © Getty Images
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England could be without second-row Joe Launchbury for the start of the 2015 Six Nations as Wasps boss Dai Young revealed his rehabilitation is behind schedule.

Launchbury was ruled out of last month's autumn series at Twickenham because of a recurring nerve problem in his neck and was told he would need six to eight weeks of rest to recover. He was expected to return to club duty over Christmas and New Year, but must now see a specialist for an update on a condition that places his involvement in the Six Nations opener against Wales on February 6 in doubt.

More alarmingly, if Young's worst-case scenario of a three-month absence materialises, Launchbury will miss the entire championship as the countdown to the 2015 World Cup continues.

"Joe's rehab isn't going quite as quickly as we'd like. He has an appointment with the consultant next week and we'll know more then," said Young after Wasps' 44-17 Champions Cup victory over Castres. "Fingers crossed it's not too serious and his rehab will pick up quickly. Sometimes the rehab goes quicker than expected, sometimes it goes slower. There are checkpoints and those aren't being reached as quickly as we'd hoped for.

"We have a good relationship with England, we work together on everything and the most important thing is to be getting Joe right. He has been out for a while and we want him back and 100 per cent. Whether that's in two or three weeks' time or two or three months' time, who knows. Only time will tell."

Wasps ran in seven tries against Castres to keep intact their ambition of qualifying for the knockout stage of the Champions Cup and now trail Pool Two leaders Harlequins by only one point.

"That was a great way to say thank-you to Adams Park, which has been our home for 12 years now," Young said. "It's goodbye to Adams Park but hopefully it's not goodbye to our supporters. We want to get as many of them to Coventry as possible.

"People want to watch big and meaningful games, so it's important that stepping into our new chapter that we have these big occasions in January."

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