England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet and France fly-half Romain Ntamack have both been ruled out of the upcoming Rugby World Cup through injury.
Van Poortvliet - who has cemented his place as his nation's leading scrum-half under Steve Borthwick - sustained an ankle problem during England's 19-17 warm-up victory over Wales at the weekend.
The 22-year-old hobbled off the field at Twickenham with the assistance of medical staff, and he was later seen on the sidelines with crutches as England avenged their previous loss to Wales in Cardiff.
However, Borthwick's side have now lost Van Poortvliet for the imminent World Cup, as the scrum-half's ankle problem is serious enough to require an operation.
Northampton Saints' Alex Mitchell has been called up to the England squad in place of Van Poortvliet, and Borthwick - who is also waiting to hear the outcome of Owen Farrell's punishment for his red card at the weekend - lamented the Leicster Tigers scrum-half's unfortunate injury.
"It's really bad luck for Jack. We send him our very best wishes for a swift and successful recovery," Borthwick told the official England Rugby website.
England are not the only ones to have been dealt a cruel injury blow ahead of the 2023 World Cup, as France's revered fly-half Ntamack is also set to miss the tournament due to a knee injury.
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The 24-year-old Toulouse man was taken off in Les Bleus' 30-27 warm-up success over Scotland at the weekend, and scans have revealed a devastating anterior cruciate ligament rupture.
France confirmed the diagnosis on Monday as Ntamack begins the long road to recovery, and he reacted to the news with a Twitter post of two action shots accompanied by the caption: "I'll be back".
Ntamack's father and former France international Emile Ntamack admitted that the family was "in shock" after learning that his son would miss a home World Cup, telling AFP: "It will take a little time to digest.
"We are still a little in shock, even if he felt it coming since his injury. We were hoping for a pleasant surprise this morning (Monday) but we weren't under too many illusions. It didn't feel right. He had already taken blows to the knee and he felt it wasn't as usual."
In addition to Ntamack, France will also compete in the World Cup without loose-head prop Cyril Baille, who sustained a calf injury in the same match and has been ruled out for the next six weeks.
Les Bleus open their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Pool A on September 8, prior to which they will meet Fiji and Australia on August 19 and 27 respectively.
Meanwhile, England will battle Ireland (August 19) and Fiji (August 26) in their final tune-up fixtures before commencing their bid for world glory against Argentina in Pool D on September 9.
Ben Knapton
