Heineken Cup
Fraser ruled out of Heineken Cup semi-final
ESPN Staff
April 23, 2013
Toulon's Steffon Armitage and Saracens' Will Fraser pose with the Heineken Cup silverware, Twickenham, April 18, 2013
Will Fraser will not get the chance to face up against Steffon Armitage © Getty Images
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Saracens have received a blow ahead of their Heineken Cup semi-final with Toulon on Sunday following the news Will Fraser will miss the match due to injury.

Fraser has been one of Saracens' best players this season and is believed to be in the frame for a spot on England's summer tour to Argentina. But the openside was forced off injured against Gloucester on Saturday after just 16 minutes after suffering a shoulder injury.

And Saracens boss Mark McCall is reluctant to put a timeframe on how long Fraser will be out of action but he has confirmed he will not be fit to face Toulon.

"It's a very unusual injury, I can't be very specific on it because we're still exploring exactly what the problem is," McCall told the Watford Observer. "We need to take advice from some experts before we decide how to handle it and before we know how long he will be out for or whether he'll be out for the rest of the season."

With Fraser out, Saracens could turn to Jacques Burger to fill the void but the Namibian flanker has only just returned from injury having spent 15 months out of action.

"It's a blow for Will himself more than anything," McCall added. "Because he's had a great season and he's played an important part in getting us to the semi-finals of the competition. So I'm really disappointed for Will but we've got a number of back-row forwards who are good players and who we trust."

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