England prop Alex Corbisiero is expected to be sidelined for a significant period of time after it was confirmed that the Northampton Saints star will have to undergo knee surgery.

The 25-year-old was ruled out of England's Autumn International against New Zealand on Saturday after suffering the recurring problem earlier this week.

"I think he's having a cartillage operation and it's his good knee as such that he's having it on this time," Dorian West told the Northampton Chronicle & Echo. "Hopefully they'll tidy it up."

Corbisiero missed a large chunk of last season with a similar problem.