England prop Sheridan heads home

England prop Andrew Sheridan will play no further part in Rugby World Cup 2011 after a recurrence of problems with his left shoulder.

Sheridan had reported soreness following England's hard-fought 13-9 win against Argentina in Dunedin and after inspection of scans the decision was taken to send the Sale Sharks prop back to England for further treatment.

"It's really sad for Sheri,"said team manager Martin Johnson. "He has been unlucky with injuries and we wish him all the best for his recovery."

Sheridan's shoulder problems had threatened to rule him out of Rugby World Cup 2011 altogether with the Sale Sharks prop only returning to international action in England's final warm up match against Ireland in Dublin.

He's had three separate shoulder operations since a serious dislocation to his left shoulder in October 2009 put him out of the game for almost 10 months.

Johnson selected five props in his original RWC 2011 squad and said that, despite Sheridan's departure, he still had options.

He added that bringing an injury replacement into the squad was also a possibility and that a decision on that would be taken shortly.

England will name their team on Friday for their next Pool B match against Georgia.