England's Australian-born hooker Nic Dolly, dubbed the Human Mullet, is set to miss their three-Test series against the Wallabies with a serious knee injury.
Australian-born Nic Dolly's hopes of lining up for England against the Wallabies in July have been dashed with the hooker suffering a serious knee injury.
The 22-year-old was last month included in Eddie Jones's pre-tour training squad after earning an international debut against South Africa last November.
Born and raised in Sydney's north, Dolly made some junior representative teams but his pathway to Super Rugby appeared to have stalled.
On a visit to his English grandparents he turned out in club rugby in a bid to keep fit and was then recruited by Sale, before joining Leicester last year where he caught the eye of Jones.
Dubbed the 'human mullet' for his long blond locks, Dolly said he hadn't previously had aspirations of playing for England despite his grandfather being "rugby mad".
"I never had aspirations, when I was younger," Dolly told reporters last year.
"I didn't really see a professional pathway in Australia ... the choice was made for me in a sense.
"I had nothing really to go back to in terms of rugby back in Australia and so the obvious decision was to repay the country that have given me the opportunity."
But his plans for a homecoming in England's three-Tests series in Perth, Brisbane and Sydney were wrecked after he was stretchered off during Leicester's win over Newcastle.
Dolly's left knee folded into the turf when he was body-rolled off the ball by Falcons prop Adam Brocklebank, who was sin-binned.
While Leicester awaited the results of scans, the England Rugby Football Union released a statement replacing Dolly in the squad, which went into three-day camp to begin tour preparations.
"Nic Dolly (knee) and Lewis Ludlam (thumb) were injured in their club matches this weekend while Joe Launchbury is taking some time to recover from knocks received in recent games," the RFU said.
"Bath's Ewan Richards has been called up for his first involvement in a senior men's camp, along with Saracens' Nick Isiekwe and Gloucester's Jack Singleton."
