England and Harlequins scrum half Danny Care's World Cup dream is over after being told he needs surgery on a toe injury suffered in Saturday's 19-9 defeat in Wales.

Care, who will go under the knife this week, will be out of action for a minimum of six weeks and has been ruled out of England's 30-man squad bound for New Zealand, which is named on Monday.

England team boss Martin Johnson said: “We are all hugely disappointed for Danny who has worked extremely hard and has been an important part of the squad throughout our Rugby World Cup preparations.

"He featured in both warm-up fixtures and was on course for selection so this injury is really disappointing for him personally and for us as a squad.

"Nobody wants to see a player ruled out at this stage through injury and we all wish Danny a speedy recovery.

"In terms of our selection options we are fortunate to have depth at nine with Ben Youngs, now back into full training, Joe Simpson and Richard Wigglesworth.

"These guys have all been part of the Rugby World Cup camp and will be considered ahead of the final 30 man squad announced on Monday.”