Injury heartbreak for Hill

World Cup winner Richard Hill’s international career - with England and the Lions - was last night under threat after a devastating injury blow.

His hopes of making a third successive Lions tour - to New Zealand next summer - are seemingly over after he underwent reconstructive knee surgery.

Saracens star Hill, capped 71 times by England and a Test Lion in 1997 against South Africa and 2001 against Australia, faces between six and nine months on the sidelines.