The Bristol number eight dislocated his right kneecap and suffered a suspected ruptured tendon in a pile-up on his own line 15 minutes into his sides 14-8 Premiership victory over Northampton at Franklins Gardens.
 
Ward-Smith wore an oxygen mask while medics were immobilising the knee before being stretchered off and taken to Northampton General hospital by ambulance.
 
A scan on Monday will determine the extent of the tendon damage but Bristol coach Richard Hill confirmed his chances of making his England debut will now have to be put on hold until this summers tour to South Africa at the earliest.
 
Hill said: The dislocated kneecap is probably a six-week injury with no complications.

Although it was put back into place on the pitch, thats his Six Nations over, said Hill.

But if hes ruptured his patella tendon then thats a six-monther and we just have to wait to see the results of the scan on Monday morning.

Its a terrible thing to happen to a young man.

Its really cruel luck for him and we all knew what it meant as soon as it happened - it really rocked our players.

We didnt think about resting him from this game. Had we known hed definitely been selected then maybe we would have done so, but hed probably have wanted to play anyway.

The injury is a major blow to new England coach Brian Ashtons plans, with Ward-Smith expected to start the Six Nations opener against Scotland in place of former captain Martin Corry.

Instead the Leicester number eight  in towering form in the Tigers historic European Cup win at Munster  may get a second chance, probably alongside Wasps flanker Joe Worsley and Sale open-side Magnus Lund.