Christian Wade’s bid to break the Gallagher Premiership try-scoring record has been paused temporarily, with the wing set to miss two games because of a rib injury, Telegraph Sport can reveal.

Wade was replaced after 33 minutes against Sale last weekend and is now expected to miss the next couple of weeks having damaged rib cartilage. Fortunately, Wade has not suffered any fracture, meaning he has moved straight into rehabilitation.

The injury will rule Wade out of Gloucester’s derby against Bath this weekend at Kingsholm along with Gloucester’s fixture away at Leicester Tigers the following Sunday.

“He got hit pretty hard and the ball got caught under him,” George Skivington, Gloucester’s director of rugby, said on Tuesday. “The good news is he hasn’t broken his ribs or anything like that. He is nursing it through at the moment... but he will not be a lengthy lay-off, thankfully. It is unfortunate for Wadey because he was going well.”

Returning to the Premiership this summer for the first time since 2018, having spent time in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills before two seasons in France with Racing 92, Wade bagged a hat-trick in Gloucester’s recent win over Bristol to take him to take him to 85 Premiership tries, tied for fourth all-time with Harlequins’ Danny Care.

Wade has openly discussed chasing down Ashton’s record of 101 Premiership tries since returning to the league.

“I do, jokingly, say stuff about it, just to create a little bit. And he’s started to give me some back!” Wade told Telegraph Sport in an interview last week about his race to catch Ashton’s record. “What I would say is that he knows I’m going to be in that No 1 spot ... there’s no need to keep talking about it. He knows I’m going to take it, so I’ve been telling him to just enjoy it while it lasts.”

Wade is joined on three tries this season by Sale hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and Saracens wing Tobias Elliott, with Bristol’s Max Malins leading the way on five.