England flanker Tom Curry will miss Sale's Champions Cup clash with Racing 92 tonight (Friday) for a stem-cell procedure on his chronic hip condition.
The former Bishop Heber School pupil from Malpas missed the bulk of last season as he underwent career-saving surgery, but recovered to make the summer tour of New Zealand and the November internationals.
Sale boss Alex Sanderson says the latest procedure is part of managing the 26-year-old with a long-term view to making the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
"He's having a stem cell procedure, which isn't a cure, it's like a medicine really," said Sanderson. "It's to help the bone growth of his previous operation; injecting stem cells into his hip.
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"It's a week completely doing nothing while the bone grows, and then he is back to running."
Stem cells can help repair damaged bodily tissue but is a relatively new form of treatment.
Sanderson expects Curry to be back available around Christmas having discussed the player's road to recovery with England head coach Steve Borthwick.
"We put a little bit of a plan together, of which the stem-cell procedure is a part of it, then looked at the rest of the season," Sanderson said. "Steve Borthwick looked at the plan and is 100 per cent behind it. We want to get him to the World Cup without having another operation."
In the meantime Sanderson plans to limit the flanker's club appearances.
"He'll feature in around 23 games, and 16 of those will be for us," he added. "And the rest internationals. So we have figured all that out so we don't push him to that 30-game max.
"The consideration is he has a chronic injury which he is managing really well, but the more he plays the less shelf-life he has."
Curry started England's autumn matches with New Zealand and Australia but was knocked unconscious against the Wallabies and was unavailable for the visit of world champions South Africa.
Curry was controversially selected for England's next match against Japan which Sanderson did not agree with but accepted the decision.
He said: "I have full faith in the doctors and the specialists who said he was good to go. At that point he is England's player."
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