text: Aaron Cruden has refused to give up hope of appearing in this year’s World Cup, but the harsh truth is that the All Blacks’ title defence has suffered an early blow with the likely loss of their No 10. The 26-year-old Waikato Chiefs fly-half received grim confirmation on Monday that he has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will be out for six months. Aaron Cruden is almost certain to miss the World Cup after scans revealed the need for knee surgery . Cruden hobbles off the field after damaging his knee during the round 10 Super Rugby match . Four years after New Zealand’s quest to claim the Webb Ellis Cup was so nearly derailed by an injury to Dan Carter, his successor has suffered the same fate — albeit much earlier. Cruden has started 15 Tests for the world champions in the last two years, establishing himself as first choice. ‘I haven’t completely ruled out making the World Cup,’ he said. ‘I still don’t know if it’s sunk in.’ New Zealand coach Steve Hansen added: ‘He has developed into a very good All Black and is a key member of our team. He will be a loss for the Chiefs and the All Blacks.’ England lock Joe Launchbury is hopeful of making his comeback in Wasps’ Premiership clash with Leicester on May 9. Launchbury has been sidelined since October because of a nerve problem caused by a bulging disc in his neck. Cruden will see a surgeon on Wednesday to arrange a knee reconstruction in the coming weeks . The knee surgery will rule him out of action for at least six weeks, meaning he will miss the World Cup . Leicester have announced the signing of Australia back-three player Peter Betham from Super 15 champions the Waratahs. Meanwhile, the final of the inaugural European Champions Cup is set to be played out in front of a sparse crowd at Twickenham on May 2. Ticket sales had crept just past 25,000 before the semi-finals and with two French clubs — Clermont Auvergne and Toulon — contesting the showpiece, a crowd of under 40,000 is expected at the 82,000-capacity stadium. That would be the smallest attendance for a final of the continent’s elite event since 2003, when Toulouse and Perpignan attracted just 28,600 in Dublin. Toulon are set to be without English full back Delon Armitage, who reportedly suffered a broken hand in Sunday’s win over Leinster.
target: Scans have revealed All Blacks flyhalf Aaron Cruden needs knee surgery .
  The 26-year-old injured his knee during clash with Canterbury Crusaders .
  Surgery is likely to rule him out of a minimum of six months of action .
  That means All Blacks ace Cruden will miss this summer's World Cup .