Woodman has undergone shoulder surgery

Gloucester prop Trevor Woodman is a doubt for England's Six Nations Championship opener against France on 15 February.

Gloucester director of rugby Nigel Melville has confirmed that Woodman underwent keyhole surgery over the weekend.

Woodman has been struggling with a shoulder injury he suffered during a national squad scrummaging session last month.

Although Woodman is likely to miss the start of England's Six Nations campaign, Melville is confident that he will return earlier than the expected 12-week lay-off.

He said: "He has already got some strength back in his shoulder, so we're optimistic that Trevor might beat that 12-week period."

Gloucester preserved their 100% Heineken Cup record by seeing off Perpignan 33-16 at Kingsholm on Sunday.

Fly-half Ludovic Mercier scored 23 points for Gloucester, while wing Marcel Garvey collected two second-half tries.

But the French club showed enough to suggest they will be a completely different prospect on home soil.

"It's going to be a very difficult game next week, but we can't wait to go down to Perpignan," Melville said.

"There's an enormous amount of people travelling from Gloucester, and I'm sure that it's going to be a fantastic European occasion."

Melville also paid tribute to Garvey, who has now scored four tries in three Heineken Cup games this term.

He said: "He is a quality player, and at just 19 years old, is getting better all the time.

"He did well to score from the two opportunities we created for him, but overall, we didn't create enough intensity often enough".

Gloucester coach Dean Ryan warned that his team will need to improve their efficiency if they are to win in France next weekend.

He said: "Perpignan will provide us with a strong challenge - their forwards are a tough unit.

"If we give away as much ball as we did today, then it will make next weekend very difficult."