On the day that Brian Ashton was given a new contract, the England head coach received a mixture of good and bad news as he prepares to step up his plans for the RBS Six Nations Championship. On the positive side, he will have Phil Vickery, his captain, and Perry Freshwater available after the props were banned for only a fortnight and four weeks respectively yesterday, having been cited for foul play in the Heineken Cup.

Set against that was the revelation that Shaun Perry, one of England’s World Cup scrum halves, looks certain to miss the entire tournament after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured cartilage in his windpipe. There is also the black cloud hanging over Olly Barkley, who was charged yesterday with actual bodily harm after an alleged incident at a wedding during the summer.

Perry, 29, sustained the freak injury early in Bristol’s defeat of Harlequins in the Heineken Cup on Sunday. The England international, back to his best form after a disappointing World Cup in which he dropped from first choice to third, was caught in the throat by a stray boot after a tackle.

Perry collapsed, then got up but was physically ill on the pitch. He continued, although in pain, and completed the game but had difficulty swallowing. An X-ray confirmed the worst and Perry had an operation on Tuesday night. It is an identical injury to that suffered by Nathan Budgett, a team-mate, against Cardiff four weeks ago.

Richard Hill, Bristol’s director of rugby, could hardly believe the misfortune as the club prepare for demanding games over Christmas, starting at home to London Wasps on Saturday, and with two crucial European qualification matches next month.

“It beggars belief,” Hill said. “The odds of the same thing happening must be extraordinary. Until Nathan was hurt I had never known a similar injury. Shaun was struggling in the dressing-room at half-time so it was amazing he stayed on and played so well. Luckily, Richard Mack, our head of medical services, diagnosed the problem immediately given what Nathan had been through.

“It is cruel for Shaun. He’s been superb for us since the World Cup and embraced his role as a senior player. It’s a nasty injury which will keep him out for three months. The surgeon had to stitch together the cartilage which had come apart in his windpipe just below the Adam’s apple. We don’t think he will be back before the middle of March, which rules him out of the Six Nations. His target must now be the summer tour to New Zealand.”

With Dan Ward-Smith out for six weeks with a broken hand, throwing his potential participation in the Six Nations into doubt, Hill must wonder when his luck might change. Ward-Smith, who was hurt in the same game as Perry, has had surgery to pin a broken metacarpal bone. A week before, Lee Robinson suffered the same fate. On top of that, David Blaney, the reserve hooker, has an operation today to set a broken ankle. Mark Regan, though, is fine after suffering a “stinger” injury to his neck, which is fortunate for the England management, who learnt from Saracens yesterday that Matt Cairns, their hooker, will be out until April with a fractured arm.

Ashton will be relieved that Vickery is free for Wasps’ game against Bath on December 29. The 30-year-old pleaded guilty to trampling on Thibault Privat, the Clermont Auvergne lock, in the away leg of their Heineken Cup pool game on December 8. He was cited when television pictures showed that he had stamped on Privat’s leg. The two-week suspension was backdated to December 12 in recognition of the club having taken their own action against the player, who was dropped from the return leg against the French club last Saturday.

Vickery’s hearing followed that of Freshwater, the Perpignan and England prop who had already pleaded guilty to striking Kieran Roche, of London Irish, a blow that left the lock with a fractured eye socket. The hearing, which Freshwater did not attend, deemed the incident a “mid-range” offence and suspended him for four weeks starting yesterday. He will miss a Heineken Cup tie against Treviso and two French Top 14 matches.

Barkley is due in court on New Year’s Eve to answer a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm after an alleged incident at Matt Perry’s wedding in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, on July 15. Barkley, who has won 21 caps, denies any wrongdoing.

Shane Horgan, the Ireland winger, will be out of action until the new year after suffering rib damage in Leinster’s Heineken Cup defeat by Edinburgh last weekend. Horgan, 29, escaped a fracture but faces about three weeks on the sidelines before he can contemplate a return. He will miss Leinster’s Magners League match against Ulster on Boxing Day.

Marcus Horan, the Munster and Ireland prop, will appear before an independent disciplinary committee in Dublin tomorrow after being cited for allegedly kicking Deacon Manu, the Llanelli Scarlets prop, in the Heineken Cup match last Sunday.