Fly-half Smith out for rest of year with ankle injury

England fly-half Marcus Smith will not play again this year after suffering an ankle injury during the Autumn Nations Series finale against South Africa.

Smith went off midway through the second half of England’s 27-13 defeat. He is set to miss Harlequins’ opening Heineken Champions Cup games against South African side Cell C Sharks and French heavyweights Racing 92, plus a Gallagher Premiership appointment with Bristol at Twickenham on Dec 27.

But his absence could run well into next month. He is due to have another specialist appointment next week.

England have a pre-six Nations training camp over the new year period, while their tournament opener is against Scotland on Feb 4.

“Simply, it is an ankle injury,” Quins head coach Tabai Matson told BT Sport, ahead of the club’s Premiership clash against Bath last night. “He had a specialist have a look at him this week, and another one next week.

“He will be out for this month. I think early next year, we will get a better prediction of actually how many weeks he will be out for.”