Jonny Wilkinson is expected to be fit for the start of England's Six Nations Championship despite having his comeback from injury curtailed yesterday.
The Newcastle and England fly-half was taken to hospital for X-rays after aggravating a shoulder injury less than an hour into the Falcons' 23-19 Zurich Premiership win over Northampton at Kingston Park.
It was his first game since helping England to World Cup glory five weeks ago and it was feared that another lay-off could make him doubtful for the Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome on February 15th.
But he was cleared of serious injury, much to the relief of England coach Clive Woodward, who had his Christmas skiing holiday in Switzerland disrupted earlier in the day to learn of the unfortunate injury to Bath centre Mike Tindall.
Tindall ruptured all three of the lateral ligaments in his right ankle in his side's win over Saracens on Saturday and he will undergo an operation this week before embarking on a 12-week rehabilitation programme which will force him to miss the entire Six Nations.
"It is a great shame for Mike," said Bath coach John Connolly. "The X-ray showed that there was no fracture but ligament damage is often worse than a break."