England have been robbed of their entire first-choice front row for the autumn after Phil Vickery was yesterday ruled out with a neck injury.

Vickery will miss the Twickenham appointments with Australia, Argentina and New Zealand after it was revealed he requires surgery that will entail a minimum three months of rehabilitation.

It also places his participation in the opening Six Nations fixture against Wales on February 6 in grave doubt.

It is a major blow to England manager Martin Johnson who discovered yesterday Andrew Sheridan will be sidelined for four months with a dislocated shoulder, forcing him to miss the start of the Six Nations.