England flanker Sam Underhill's injury return date revealed

Tuesday, 26 January 2021 at 23:08

byRugby Rucker

Bath and England back-rower Sam Underhill has been forced to pull out of England's Six Nations squad because of a hip injury.

Wasps flanker Jack Willis, who made his England debut last autumn, has replaced the powerhouse in the 2020 champions' squad.

However, Bath boss Stuart Hooper has revealed: "It is obviously disappointing news for him but I think the outlook is positive.

"We are talking weeks more than anything else. For sure he should be back before the end of the Six Nations, the initial reports suggest that.

"He picked up the injury against Wasps and it has probably been a bit of a niggle for him but he was assessed by the England medics this morning and the decision was made.

"This sets him back a bit but he is back with us to be treated and we will work with him, as we do with all of our players, to get him back fit for Bath Rugby and then Eddie’s job is to pick his England team."

BACKS

Elliot Daly (Saracens, 47 caps)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 88 caps)
George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 72 caps)
Ollie Lawrence (Worcester Warriors, 3 caps)
Max Malins (Bristol Bears, 3 caps)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 61 caps)
Paolo Odogwu (Wasps, uncapped)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, uncapped)
Dan Robson (Wasps, 7 caps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 34 caps)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 46 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 104 caps)

FORWARDS

Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 26 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 28 caps)
Ben Earl (Bristol Bears, 8 caps)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 54 caps)
Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 43 caps)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 17 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 85 caps)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 72 caps)
Beno Obano (Bath Rugby, uncapped)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 8 caps)
Jack Willis (Wasps, 2 caps)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 56 caps)
Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 18 caps)
Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons, 19 caps)

Tom West (Wasps, 0 caps)

Shadow squad

Charlie Atkinson (Wasps, uncapped)
Ali Crossdale (Saracens, uncapped)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby, 3 caps)
David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)

Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs, 6 caps)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, uncapped)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 54 caps)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 4 caps)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers, uncapped)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Jacob Umaga (Wasps, uncapped)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 8 caps)

50 players will swap countries for the 2021 Six Nations

6. England - 1 player

Billy Vunipola (Sydney, Australia)

skysports rugby billy vunipola saracens 4201295

3. France - 3 players

Uini Atonio (Timaru, New Zealand)
Bernard Le Roux (Western Cape, South Africa)
Paul Willemse (Pretoria, South Africa)

IRELAND - 8 players

Rob Herring (Cape Town, South Africa)
Ultan Dillane (Paris, France)
Quinn Roux (Pretoria, South Africa)
CJ Stander (George, South Africa)
Jamison Gibson-Park (Great Barrier Island, New Zealand)
Billy Burns (Bath, England)
Bundee Aki (Auckland, New Zealand)
James Lowe (Nelson, New Zealand)

ITALY - 10 players

Marco Manfredi (Freiburg, Germany)
Johan Meyer (Port Elizabeth, South Africa)
Sebastien Negri (Marondera, Zimbabwe)
David Sisi (Rinteln, Germany)
Cristian Stoian (Chisinau, Moldova)
Cherif Traorè (Kindia, Guinea)
Callum Braley (Bristol, England)
Ignacio Brex (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Monty Ioane (Melbourne, Australia)
Stephen Varney (Wales)

WALES – 12 players

WillGriff John (Plymouth, England)
Tomas Francis, (York, England)
Will Rowlands (London, England)
Jake Ball (Ascot, England)
Dan Lydiate (Salford, England)
Josh Macleod (Montecarlo, Monaco)
Taulupe Faletau (Tofoa, Tonga)
Nick Tompkins (Sidcup, England)
Jonathan Davies (Solihull, England)
Johnny Williams (Western-Super-Mare, England)
Hallam Amos (Stockport, England)
George North (Kings Lynn, England)

1. Scotland - 15 players

Despite having one less foreign-born player than 2020 (16), Gregor Townsend’s roster still contains more than any other competitor in the Six Nations. Of note is that that over half of the Foreign-Born players qualify via a Grandparent. This qualification path may not survive should World Rugby adopt additional tightening of eligibility laws.