Six Nations/Italy v England:England flanker Tom Rees will miss the rest of the Six Nations Championship after his club Wasps confirmed he had suffered a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
And the winger David Strettle looks unlikely to feature again in the tournament after Harlequins confirmed he had sustained a hairline fracture to a metatarsal in his left foot.
Quins say Strettle will be out of action for between four and eight weeks.
Rees was forced off during the second half of England's shock 26-19 defeat by Wales at Twickenham on Saturday, and an MRI scan yesterday confirmed the extent of his injury.
Wasps' medical team predict Rees will be in rehab for approximately eight weeks.
The club's director of rugby, Ian McGeechan, said: "This is very disappointing news, particularly bearing in mind the way Tom was playing in Saturday's game, and I think his departure had a significant impact on England's performance in the remainder of the game.
"Our medical and rehab team will working very hard in the coming weeks to get Tom back to full fitness as soon as possible."
Strettle was also forced off through injury on Saturday and, after he saw a specialist yesterday in the company of the Harlequins physiotherapist Richard Bramford, it was confirmed he had sustained a hairline fracture to the fifth metatarsal in his left foot.
It is estimated he will be out of action for four to eight weeks, although he will return to see the specialist in three weeks' time to monitor his progress.
England will also be without centre Mike Tindall (bruised liver) and flanker Lewis Moody (Achilles) for Sunday's game against Italy in Rome.
Tindall remains under observation in a London hospital and is unlikely to play any further part in this season's Six Nations.
Italy assistant coach Carlo Orlandi fears the Azzurri will feel the full force of the World Cup finalists' wrath on Sunday.
"The English will be wounded and will want to make up for it," Orlandi told the Italian sports daily Corriere dello Sport.
"We're expecting a strong reaction on their part.
"On my part, I cannot be satisfied with a defeat; we have a solid base on which to build on and the English pack is less mobile than ours."
