Six Nations: Jonny May out for the season as England coach Eddie Jones weighs up his depleted squad

The wing's injury adds to a long list of problems for England ahead of the Six Nations

Jonny May limps off during Gloucester's Aviva Premiership encounter with Harlequins (Getty Images)

If Eddie Jones was wondering whether he would be able to see the wood for the trees when it came to his first squad selection as England head coach – plenty of good players, too few stellar ones – he must now be worrying about the absence of trees in the wood. A dozen obvious Six Nations candidates are struggling with injury, with the World Cup wing Jonny May the latest to bid farewell to his tournament prospects.

Unfortunately for Jones, there is power to add on the orthopaedic trauma front. This weekend’s block of Premiership matches will be followed by two rounds of European Champions Cup action full of hazardous enterprises. Saracens, home to a good number of red-rose hopefuls, have tough matches with Ulster and Toulouse ahead of them while Bath, stacked with back-line contenders, can expect plenty of blows upon bruises in their meetings with Leinster and Toulon.

May, the man responsible for the odd memorable moment in an otherwise forgettable World Cup campaign last autumn, mangled his knee ligaments during Gloucester’s high-scoring draw with Harlequins at Twickenham in late December and underwent surgery earlier this week. The word from Kingsholm is not good: David Humphreys, the West Country club’s rugby director, has ruled out his premier strike runner for the rest of the season.

Six nations dilemma: England’s injuries

Jonny May (wing, Gloucester) – knee

Christian Wade (wing, Wasps) – foot 

Manu Tuilagi (centre, Leicester) – groin

Henry Slade (centre, Exeter) – ankle/leg

Alex Corbisiero (prop) – knee

Kieran Brookes (prop, both Northampton) – knee

Luke Cowan-Dickie (hooker, Exeter) – thumb

Dave Attwood (lock, Bath) – neck

Mitch Lees (lock) – biceps

Dave Ewers (flanker, both Exeter) – knee

Ed Slater (lock/flanker) – knee

Mike Williams (flanker, both Leicester) – arm

“It’s as disappointing as we thought it was at the time,” said the former Ireland outside-half. “It’s very difficult to put a timeline on such an injury at this early stage but the surgery went well and we hope to see Jonny in the new season.” In other words, May has next to no chance of recovering in time for the England tour of Australia in June.

Jones will finalise his elite squad over the next 48 hours or so and name it next Wednesday. May’s absence will hurt – after losing his England place following the first two rounds of last year’s Six Nations, he recovered strongly to force a place in Stuart Lancaster’s starting line-up for the big World Cup fixtures – but the new coach at least has options in the back three department. Marland Yarde of Harlequins and Semesa Rokoduguni of Bath are in decent fettle after failing to make the cut for the global gathering, and Jones is known to like the look of two current squad members: Rokoduguni’s clubmate Anthony Watson and the Exeter workaholic Jack Nowell.

Things are somewhat scratchier elsewhere. Another Exeter youngster, Henry Slade, was the hot favourite to perform the ever-troublesome inside centre role against Scotland at Murrayfield on 6 February, but he suffered a broken leg and a dislocated ankle simultaneously before Christmas and will be lucky to play again this term. There are also worrying injury tolls in each row of the scrum.

One of the most testing selection areas is at loose forward. Chris Robshaw, who led England throughout Lancaster’s stewardship of the team, must now be considered a full-time No 6 rather than an open-side flanker – a positional switch that means he will fight it out with the likes of Tom Wood, back in trainin-g with Northampton after a lengthy spell of inactivity, and the Wasps captain, James Haskell. When the likes of Ed Slater, Dave Ewers and Mike Williams return to full fitness, the blind-side position will be the most bitterly contested of all.

Billy Vunipola of Saracens and Ben Morgan of Gloucester are the men in possession at No 8, but Josh Beaumont of Sale is closing in fast. As for the crucial No 7 job, there is growing support for another Gloucester forward in Matt Kvesic – the nearest thing England have to a southern hemisphere-style groundhog.