Joe Launchbury’s return lifts England as All Blacks lose Aaron Cruden for World Cup

Injury news and concerns mounting ahead of tournament

Joe Launchbury (GETTY IMAGES)

It is not difficult to argue that England find it harder to function without their outstanding young second-row Joe Launchbury than New Zealand do without their inventive outside-half Aaron Cruden, so this year’s World Cup hosts were clear winners over the reigning champions in Monday’s battle of the orthopaedic bulletins, which are now coming thick and fast with the global gathering just around the corner.

Launchbury expects to return from a six-month absence when Wasps play Leicester in a big Premiership match early next month, while Cruden is likely to miss this autumn’s tournament with a mangled knee ligament.

Stuart Lancaster, the head coach of the England team, will be feeling positively joyous at the first development – and, if truth be told, something less than suicidal at the second, even though the All Blacks will still have playmaking No 10s as exceptional as Daniel Carter and Beauden Barrett available to them.

England have hardly been destitute in the engine-room department since 24-year-old lock Launchbury underwent surgery to address a worsening neck condition – Courtney Lawes, Geoff Parling, Dave Attwood and George Kruis all had their moments during the nine Tests of the season to date – but the forwards have struggled to reproduce the all-court dynamism that marked their Six Nations campaign last year, when Launchbury played the best rugby of his career.

“I’m building towards full contact training, so I’m approaching crunch time in my rehab,” he said. “It’s been a gradual process and I’ve had to jump through a few hoops, but I’ve passed the test each time I’ve moved on to a new stage and I’m hoping to ramp things up now. Given where I am, I’m setting my sights on Leicester at home on 9 May. But it will happen only if everyone around me is 100 per cent sure it’s the right decision.”

Cruden’s setback – he ruptured his left anterior cruciate ligament while on Super 15 duty for the Waikato-based Chiefs at the weekend – is just about as cruel as it gets.

New Zealand fly-half Aaron Cruden has suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in his left knee (Getty Images)

Left out of the New Zealand squad at the 2011 World Cup on home soil, he was called in when Carter picked up an injury and started the final against France, only to have his big day cut short by a knee problem. Stephen Donald, the All Blacks’ fourth choice, came off the bench to land the winning penalty.

According to a Chiefs spokesman, Cruden will undergo reconstructive surgery and is unlikely to regain fitness until mid-October, by which time the World Cup will be deep into its knock-out stage. “He’ll be a loss,” acknowledged Steve Hansen, the All Blacks’ head coach. “It’s hugely disappointing for him and we’ll be supporting him as he goes through this tough time.”

Leicester, resigned to losing the versatile England back Mathew Tait to Top 14 rugby in France at the end of the season, have struck a powerful blow in the market place by signing the Wallaby wing Peter Betham for next season. Born in New Zealand but raised in Sydney, the 26-year-old can play in any of the back three positions and is currently in decent Super 15 form, having scored two tries for the Waratahs against the powerful Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday.

There was negative news for another international back, however. Delon Armitage, the exiled English player who has made such a success of his move to the double European champions Toulon, is expected to miss the French club’s attempt to win an unprecedented third straight title at Twickenham a week on Saturday, having broken a hand during the extra-time victory over Leinster in Sunday’s semi-final.