EXETER Chiefs back rower Jacques Vermeulen seems set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering a foot injury in the 24-5 victory over Newcastle Falcons at Sandy Park yesterday.

The 28-year-old South African had to limp off three minutes before the interval.

It is the latest frustration for Vermeulen and the Chiefs, as he only recently returned from a long time out.

Chiefs' director of rugby Rob Baxter said: "It is something in his foot. He will have to have an x-ray to see if it is something broken or if it is a ligament problem.

"It doesn't look great, which is a bit of the story of the season for us, but we will have to assess it on Monday."

Chiefs seem to be losing one frontline player a match at the moment, with tight-head prop Harry Williams suffering a serious knee injury against Harlequins at Twickenham last weekend.

"It is a bit like that, but we are a week away now from the last game of the Six Nations taking place, so hopefully we will get all our back-five forwards back from that and that will help thicken us out a little bit in that department," said Baxter.