Hill victim of England injury jinx

Richard Hill will today discover if he has become the latest casualty of England's World Cup curse after being injured as Saracens lost 20-3 to London Irish at Reading.

The flanker was helped off clutching his left knee in the 39th minute of yesterday's Premiership clash.

He later reported for duty with England for their three-day training session at Bagshot but complained of pain caused by what he believed was a severe twist and possible muscle damage.

The England medical staff will send Hill for a scan to determine the extent of an injury that could have serious repercussions for Andy Robinson, the acting head coach.

Not only is Hill the only survivor from the Cup-winning back row, he is a leading candidate to captain a team that has already seen Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Neil Back and Matt Dawson retire or dropped from the squad.

Loss of form and injury has hampered other star players, including Ben Cohen and Josh Lewsey.

Saracens coach Rod Kafer admitted: "I'm very worried about what Richard Hill's injury means to the team in both the short-term and the long-term."

Hill, 31, is England's most experienced flanker with 71 caps and would be a guaranteed starter for the November clashes with Canada, South Africa and Australia.

His club also need Hill to get the all-clear as their season is starting to look dangerously like their last campaign, undermined by inconsistency.

All they could muster at Reading was a penalty from Nicky Little, while tries from Justin Bishop, Delon Armitage and Michael Horak earned Irish their first win at the Madejski Stadium in 11 months.

At least Sarries are not bottom of the Zurich Premiership. That is where Harlequins are lying after a desperate 33-7 defeat by newlypromoted Worcester.

A fifth consecutive league defeat leaves them with two points, five behind Worcester and Leeds.

Quins have no option but to find the money for a new ball carrying forward who can provide a focal point for a pack that is unable to consistently hurt the opposition.

At present, they lack confidence and a cutting edge and now face a run of fixtures which reads: Gloucester, Leicester, Munster, Castres and London Wasps. On present form, they could go 10 games without a win.

Mark Evans, their chief executive and head coach, said: "We will tackle it in the way that you normally tackle crises, with heart and soul, determination, self-belief and all those sort of things.

"We will analyse things, try and work out where our priorities are and then work very hard to put them into place. That is what we will do.

"We are very low on confidence, and it is going to be a long road. Our ball-retention was really poor, but if you could stick your finger on one thing, then it would be an easy thing to solve."