Fin Smith could miss England's Six Nations opener against Wales next month because of a calf injury.
The fly-half was withdrawn just hours before kick-off from the Northampton side that suffered a 50-28 European Champions Cup defeat at Bordeaux on Sunday.
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Smith is now awaiting the result of a scan that will indicate when he might return to action.
Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson has revealed the British and Irish Lions playmaker will be out for at least a fortnight, making it uncertain if he will be ready to face Wales at Twickenham on February 7.
Veteran fly-half George Ford started three of England's four Tests in November, but Smith was given the number 10 jersey against Fiji and was on the bench for the opening 25-7 defeat of Australia.
"Fin Smith is dealing with a calf strain," said Dowson. "We're still waiting to see how long that is from a scan point of view. It's probably minimum two weeks, but with a muscle injury it's hard to give a timeline beyond that.
"It's not months and months and he's not going to be back this weekend, so somewhere in between that."
Calf problems are also troubling Northampton and England full-back George Furbank. The Saints are wary of rushing Furbank's return given he had a significant calf problem in 2025 and has not played since December 20.
As for Wales, they suffered a fresh blow on Wednesday after it was announced veteran No 8 Taulupe Faletau would miss the opening three rounds of the Six Nations with a calf problem.
Faletau has been ruled out of the matches against England, France and Scotland with an injury sustained playing for Cardiff against Ospreys on January 1.
The 35-year-old, who missed the Autumn Nations Series because of a knee issue, is not expected back until late February.
"It's not clear on his return but we're definitely looking at the middle of the Six Nations," Cardiff coach Corniel van Zyl said.
Wales were already set to be without captain Jac Morgan and centre Max Llewellyn for a large chunk of the Six Nations.
Head coach Steve Tandy is due to name his Six Nations squad on January 20.
