A disastrous loss?

Stephen Jones of the Sunday Times believes that the long-term injury lay-off of prop Phil Vickery could have devastating consequences for both England and Gloucester.

Let's talk tighthead props and let's ask ourselves if the England season is just beginning to unravel. Until now, England have been hammering through the season at club and national level with only notional opposition, with England clear favourites to win the Grand Slam and the likely winners of the Heineken European Cup possibly Leicester.

And Gloucester, meanwhile, are way out ahead of the Zurich Premiership with every chance, so it seemed, to finish top of the table and then re-affirm their hegemony by winning the Zurich Championship. That would leave England with all the major trophies, emphasising their dominance in the autumn internationals and carrying it forward into the Rugby World Cup.

But things have changed. Almost overnight. No, I am not talking about the relatively-small victory over the brave Welsh. No problem there. The home team battled hard without ever looking a team that will now win many games, or even any, in the rest of the season. No, I am not talking about the rash of injuries to Neil Back, Jason Robinson, and Lewis Moody.

I am talking about one man. One man doesn't make a team, they say. Yes, he does. Phil Vickery's groaning back and dodgy disc is absolutely disastrous news for Gloucester, and for England. Just a tighthead prop he may be, but Clive Woodward - so I am told - will murmur privately that Mr Vickery is his most important player and that only Mr Wilkinson even comes close. The news that Vickery is out for the season should case a nasty chill in the West and in England as a whole.

Vickery will now miss the rest of the domestic season. Given a following wind, he may be ready in time for England's Summer tour of Australia and New Zealand although the large number of injuries he suffers (and back problems are hardly the best for a prop to have) does start to raise doubts about a long-term future. The Raging Bull's injury-free periods are becoming a little scarce and truncated.

But his value is vast. Here, we have the archetypal modern prop, without any doubt the best in the world. Vickery is a powerful scrummager (if not, quite, a devastating one). As Jason Leonard said recently: "These days, there are so many responsibiltities around the field that you simply cannot expect your props to scrummage full-on in every scrum. If you did that they would have no legs left." Quite right and given those considerations, Vickery is a propping force of nature.

However, around the field, Vickery is a revelation. He is one of the great defensive props of the era, a tremendous heavy-hitter in the tackling line. He is also good enough with the ball in hand to play in the outside centre channel for Gloucester and to play with pace and dexterity. There is no doubt whatsoever that he is a foundation stone of England and Gloucester. A true great.

The financial woes of Tom Walkinshaw, Gloucester's owner, will probably mitigate against a long-term signing as a stop-gap for Vickery, leaving the great warhorse, Andy Deacon, to fill the position. But Gloucester have some massive games coming up and to lose their core figure is a catastrophic blow, not least to morale.

On the England scene, Julian White's recovery becomes vital. White is not in the same class as Vickery as an all-purpose prop but at least he is a powerful scrummager, so at least the scrum will be safely anchored.

But I have the feeling that the medical bulletin issued this week ruling Phil Vickery out of the rest of the domestic season, could well prove a guide to a fall.