Rugby ‘Robust’ Cowan-Dickie set for his 50th England cap

LUKE Cowan-Dickie is poised to join England's 50-cap club admitting injury and an encounter with tugby’s judiciary left him fearing the day would never come.

- Duncan BECH

Luke Cowan-Dickie during England training

(Picture: David Rogers/Getty)

Cowan-Dickie is poised to reach the milestone as a replacement against Australia in Saturday's autumn opener at Allianz Stadium in what will be a triumph of resilience having made his Test debut in 2015. Two years ago, he suffered nerve damage in his right arm when a routine decompression surgery to his neck went wrong and it was 16 months before he could play at a reasonable level.

An episode of the heart condition atrial fibrillation when playing for Sale also caused alarm, while last week he faced a disciplinary hearing after receiving a 20-minute red card for a dangerous tackle on Saracens’ Tom Willis.

The charges against the 32-yearold British and Irish Lions hooker were dropped.