Jack Willis update: England flanker has not ruptured his ACL

The Wasps flanker could be heard screaming in agony after he was rolled out of a ruck by an Italian player, twisting his knee in the process.

During his relatively short career, the back-rower has already had to battle back from serious knee and ankle surgery in 2018 after first being named in Eddie Jones’ squad for the South Africa tour.

"It's really early and I don't want to go concrete with this but it sounds like he has done quite a few things with his knee," Blackett revealed to Coventry Live.

"It's pretty serious. But at this moment in time it looks like he has not done his ACL. He will spend a long time out, I should imagine.

"I've only had a couple of text messages with him, as you can imagine, there will be a lot of people messaging him. I think by the sounds of things he is just typical Jack really. He wishes us good luck this morning, the thing that will make him happy is that we get a result and hopefully we've done that for him. 

"It's hard to get how he is in terms of a text message. I know Jack, I know how distraught he will be. This happens to professional rugby players. We will be there to support him in any way we possibly can. 

"I'd like to go on the record as well, I think England have been fantastic. Richard Hill with me, the doctors, the physios with our club, I'm nothing but grateful to England for how they have contacted us and dealt with this whole situation."

The European player of the year, who has scored 11 Premiership tries so far this season, should find his way back into Jones’ squad in the near future. He's been sensational.

A player that does provide the weight at the back of the scrum that Jones wants to see is Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt, but the 23-year-old has not been able to convince the Australian to give him a run out despite being called up in the Autumn.

The 21-year-old Worcester skipper is clearly a player Jones has earmarked for the future, and offers a huge amount in the No6 shirt. Thus far, he has not yet been able to make the step up from being a prospect since making his debut as a teenager against Japan in 2018.

With his move to Montpellier next season confirmed, it's pretty unlikely that the back-rower will get a recall. Mercer’s display against Sale Sharks in both attack and defence showed exactly what he's made of. In attack, he made a total of 91 metres going forward from 10 carries beating two defenders in the process, while defensively he made 20 tackles to round off a strong performance for the 23-year-old.