Steve Dimond gives update on 'significant' Manu Tuilagi injury

Saints forward Lawes suffered a knee injury in the eighth minute and Tuilagi hurt his Achilles four minutes later.

"We think it's the achilles with Tuilagi and it looks pretty significant," revealed Diamond.

"He definitely don't think he'll be in contention for the weekend but we won't know until he sees the medics tomorrow.

"I don’t think it’s too clever. I don’t think it’s the best.’"

Meanwhile, Courtney Lawes also hobbled off with a knee injury as things went from bad to worse for Eddie Jones.

The 31-year-old jumped for a high kick, but when returning to earth appeared to catch his studs in the turf and twist his right leg back at a painful angle before limping off, aided by Saints’ medical staff.

Here are four England players who could miss the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup.

The Wasps captain left the field early on his 150th appearance for the club as they breezed past Bristol Bears at the Ricoh Arena. Early signs were that it could be a pretty bad calf injury with James Gaskell replacing him. If it does prove to be serious, that would leave Jones without Launchbury and George Kruis after the Saracens star made his move to Japan.

The powerhouse hasn't played in almost 12 months since he ran rampant for England at the 2019 World Cup. The 22-year-old has been closing in on his Bath comeback as he continues to recover from the long-term knee issue suffered last autumn, which means he's unlikely to feature in Jones' squad. Hopefully, Ollie Thorley will finally win a deserved first cap.

The back-rower has only made one start since the 2019 Rugby World Cup during a disasterous, injury-ravaged loan spell with Sale Sharks. Now back at Newcastle Falcons, he won't have played a game in close to seven months when the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup kicks off. With a number of young back-rowers, such as Jack Willis, Ted Hill and Alex Dombrandt pushing for a call-up, the 30-year-old could miss out.

A victim of the sheer amount of games since lockdown, the loosehead-prop has been battling on through an ongoing knee problem. Marler, who has openly criticised Premiership Rugby's scheduling, hit the headlines on his last England appearance by grabbing Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones by the crotch. Bath prop Will Stuart is someone that could feature for England as a possible replacement.