Chessum 'gutted' to miss out on England

OLLIE Chessum admits he is "gutted" to be missing out on a busy summer with England in the southern hemisphere.

- GARY FITZGERALD

However, the Leicester lock says he has no regrets about going under the knife to sort out his long-term shoulder problem, and has set his sights on gaining Lions selection for Australia in 2025.

The 23-year-old took the big decision to sit out the end of Leicester Tigers' Premiership campaign in order to fix a shoulder problem which he reveals has hindered him on the field for club and country.

It means that, having become such an integral member of the pack in recent times with his ability to play second row and flanker, he will be unable to add to his 23 caps by flying with the squad for the June and July Tests with Japan and New Zealand.

Chessum, who had his surgery after last month's game with Bristol, said: "It was an ongoing issue and something that had been bugging me for a while. So I finally made up my mind to have surgery. There's never a good time for this stuff but I had conversations with various people and decided it was time to get it sorted and on the mend.

"The nature of the sport means there's only so long you can go on playing at 80 per cent.