Lewis Moody, the Leicester Tigers forward, said he was "devastated" after being told he will miss the rest of the season through injury, ruling him out of the EDF final and England's tour of New Zealand in June.

Moody ruptured his right Achilles tendon during England's RBS Six Nations match against Wales at Twickenham on February 2 and has not played since. Following the injury, Moody travelled to Umea in Sweden where a tendon specialist revealed the full extent of the damage.

"The specialist told me I'm going to be out for 16 weeks which means I won't play for the rest of the season," Moody said. "I'm absolutely devastated. I've had my Achilles scraped, which is basically where all the loose scar tissue is cleared out. I've got a 50% rupture of the tendon.

"I'm really, really disappointed, not so much because I'll miss England's tour to New Zealand this summer but because the Tigers are in the EDF final, and I can't imagine them not also being in the league final too. Every game you miss is a game you can never get back. The only good thing about this is that I get to spend more time with my wife Annie and my baby son Dylan, who was born earlier this month."

A shoulder injury, which also required surgery, sidelined Moody from last year's Six Nations, although he returned to play a key role in England's 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign and helped them reach the final where they lost to South Africa.