Moody's absence will be a big loss to England

Surgeons inserted two pins into the muscle, which he damaged playing for Leicester in the Heineken Cup.

Moody, 28, was named on the bench for the first game of the tournament versus Scotland but was forced to withdraw, with his place going to Tom Rees.

Moody said he was "devastated" and hoped to return for Leicester's EDF Cup semi-final against Sale on 24 March.

The timing of the injury, especially in a World Cup year, is particularly unfortunate for Moody, who had scored five tries in his last six games for the Tigers.

606 DEBATE: Your reaction to Moody's injury

England's pack seems to be suffering from an injury curse at the moment, with Steve Thompson and the uncapped Dan Ward-Smith already having been ruled out of the tournament.

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In addition, Joe Worsley will miss the Italy game after suffering a neck injury against Scotland, and Martin Corry has only played a limited role in training because of an arm infection.

Captain Phil Vickery warned that the Italians would pose a very different threat to the one his side faced against Scotland.

"Italy will be very disappointed with their performance against France and they will have nothing to lose coming to Twickenham," he said.

"They are a good side and have firepower to match anybody.

"We just have to win and not get carried away by the Scotland performance. Reputations are not made overnight - and if they are, they usually come crumbling down.

"Against Scotland, there was a fear of losing - which helped our preparation.

"Where do we find our fear this week? It comes from not performing as well as we can.