England and Sale Sharks flanker Tom Curry is having stem-cell therapy on his hip in a bid to play at the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Curry had career-saving surgery on a chronic hip problem in February before he returned to face New Zealand in the summer.
Now, with a view to managing his recovery and prevent further issues, the 26-year-old will have stem-cell therapy, meaning he will miss Sale’s Champions Cup match against Racing 92.
“He’s having a stem cell procedure, which isn’t a cure, it’s like a medicine really,” Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson told BBC Sport.
“It’s to help the bone growth of his previous operation; injecting stem cells into his hip. It’s a week completely doing nothing while the bone grows, and then he is back to running.”
Sanderson said the club have worked with England coach Steve Borthwick to map out when Curry will have the treatments and how many games he will play.
“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% behind it. We want to get him to the World Cup without having another operation. He’ll feature in around 23 games, and 16 of those will be for us.
“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.
“We generally go by the principle it’s going to be three games on one off, or two on one off. I don’t think it’s wise [to push his game number to 30].”
While his hip has been the primary issue for Curry, there was concern for him in the November internationals after he was knocked out against Australia, only to play two weeks later to play against Japan.
Asked if he was happy that Curry took part in that match, Sanderson said: “Personally for me, no, because I care about him.
“But only in the same way his brother was [concerned about him], and his parents. If there was a chance, you wouldn’t even take it, with someone’s brain.
“But 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.”
England’s next match will be their Six Nations opener against Ireland in Dublin on Feb.1