Manu Tuilagi has been ruled out of England’s training camp in Brighton after a knee injury forced him to limp off in Leicester’s 16-12 defeat to Saracens.

The centre, playing only his sixth game following a two-month lay-off because of a groin problem and with the England head coach Eddie Jones looking on, hobbled off after only eight minutes at Welford Road, having fallen awkwardly in a double tackle.

Leicester’s director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, said Tuilagi would be assessed on Monday after the problem area had settled down but England have opted to replace the 25-year-old with the Bath wing Semesa Rokoduguni.

A short statement read: “Manu Tuilagi will not attend England’s training camp in Brighton because of an injury sustained during Leicester Tigers’ defeat to Saracens. Semesa Rokoduguni has been called in to join up with the 33-man squad.”

Tuilagi, who has been capped 26 times by England, has been beset by injuries for the last couple of years but was on Saturday called up to Jones’ 33-man squad for a two-day camp on the south coast.

While his knock will heighten fears of another lengthy period on the sidelines, Cockerill is remaining positive.

He said: “He got a bang on the outside of his right knee and we don’t know the extent of the injury yet. His groin is feeling great so that’s one good thing, there’s always a positive.

“It’s disappointing because he is important to us. Normally it’s 24 hours so we will see how it has settled down in the morning to see if there’s any swelling.

“It might just be a bang and a bit of swelling, it might be a couple of weeks. I’m just guessing.”