Sale Sharks second-row Jonny Hill is set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines after suffering a horrific injury in his side’s Investec Champions Cup loss to La Rochelle at the Salford Community Stadium on Sunday.
Midway through the opening half, the England international was competing in the air for lineout possession but, when he came down to the ground from the set-piece, he suffered an injury.
A mass of bodies then came down on him after the resulting maul collapsed, which may have made matters worse.
Play was halted for several minutes as received medical attention and he eventually left the field on a stretcher to the applause of the fans in attendance and both sets of players.
The commentators speculated that the second-row may have suffered a dislocated knee, but the full extent of the injury has yet to be confirmed.
La Rochelle were holding a 10-0 lead at the time and, although Tom Ellis came on as a replacement for Hill, his introduction made little difference to the outcome of the match as Sale’s opponents continued to hold the upper hand as the match progressed.
The French outfit, who are the tournament’s defending champions, were leading 10-0 at the time of Hill’s injury – after a Dillyn Leyds try, which was converted by Antoine Hastoy, who added a couple of penalties which gave the Top 14 outfit a 16-0 lead at half-time.
La Rochelle continued to dominate after the interval and were leading 30-0 by the 47th minute after Hastoy and Tawera Kerr-Barlow crossed for tries which were both converted by the fly-half.
Tom Roebuck reduced the deficit when he scored a try for the Sharks before Agustin Creevy also went over for a five-pointer in the 66th minute. Five minutes later, La Rochelle booked their spot in the ‘s round-of-16 when UJ Seuteni scored their bonus-point try.
The home side were rewarded with two further tries from Sam Dugdale and Telusa Veainu but it was too little too late as La Rochelle had wrapped up the match by then.
The defeat means Sale will drop down to the Challenge Cup’s round-of-16 but Sharks boss Alex Sanderson’s main concern will be the injury which Hill sustained and the length of time he will spend on the sidelines.
