Ben Youngs shone for England in the second Test against South Africa © PA Photos

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Players/Officials: Ben Youngs

Tournaments/Tours: Aviva Premiership

Teams: England | Leicester Tigers

Ben Youngs may not play for the Leicester Tigers until December, according to boss Richard Cockerill.

Youngs is currently recovering from shoulder surgery after he sustained the injury in England's second Test against the Springboks in June. The original prognosis was that Youngs would be fit in time for September but that original date has now been extended to October. With England playing three Tests in November and one in early December, Tigers boss Cockerill is prepared to be without his first-choice scrum-half until December.

"Ben has had surgery and he is having holiday time at the minute, which is important," Cockerill told the Leicester Mercury. "He will miss the first rounds of the Heineken Cup, which is not ideal because you want your best players playing in the biggest games.

"When he is fit, he will be back on the field. It is typical that he will get fit and then we will lose him to the autumn internationals."

It now seems likely that either Sam Harrison or Micky Young will fill the void left by Youngs in the early part of next season. But while Cockerill is preparing for life without his first-choice scrum-half, he has been pleased by how the rest of the squad has recovered from their bumps and bruises.

"Tom Croft should be ready at the end of September and Jordan Crane should be okay," Cockerill said. "He [Crane] has been training for a while now but we have to be careful because he had a serious injury which has seen him out of the game for a long while.

"Louis Deacon (torn hamstring) is doing well, too. We just have to make sure everything is right. Mat Tait (groin) will be the end of September but he is also doing very well. Hopefully, apart from Youngs, by the end of September, we will have a full squad. But I am sure I have said that before!"