England scrum-half Ben Youngs may be out for three months after discovering he needs surgery on his injured shoulder.

The Leicester man scored a pair of tries during last Saturday's exciting 36-27 second Test loss to South Africa at Ellis Park but then hurt his shoulder when trying to tackle JP Pietersen.

"The prognosis is two to three months," Youngs wrote in his column in The Times.

"There was a lot of discomfort and I couldn't really sleep on Saturday night.

"On Sunday morning, I had medical screenings, had the scan, and they came back with the result. The injury requires keyhole surgery.

"It is gutting to miss the third Test - no-one likes to go home injured.

"I felt that at Ellis Park I had started to lay down a marker and gone and got the shirt back, and then you are injured. It is so tough."