England look certain to have lost lock Danny Grewcock for the rest of the World Cup while flanker Richard Hill is struggling with a damaged hamstring.
Grewcock broke a bone in his left hand during yesterday's 111-13 pool C win over Uruguay and coach Clive Woodward said today he expected a further X-ray would rule him out.
England have already called up Simon Shaw as a replacement. Shaw was one of the last players to be culled from Woodward's pre-World Cup squad and the coach described leaving him out as one of the hardest decisions of his career.
Hill's troublesome hamstring is a major concern to Woodward. He suffered the injury in England's first game against Georgia on October 10th and was initially passed fit to play against South Africa a week later.
However, he was then withdrawn and the injury has failed to recover.