Sam Underhill backed to return for England after recovering from concussion, Covid and illness

Sam Underhill has been backed to make an instant England return after recovering from a triple whammy of concussion, Covid-19 and illness.

Underhill was left out of Eddie Jones’ squad for the Six Nations in January on fitness grounds and then suffered a head knock in Bath’s Heineken Champions Cup hammering by Leinster.

The 27-cap flanker is set to make his first Bath appearance since January 22 against Bristol on Saturday.

England flanker Sam Underhill is ‘absolutely fine’, says Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper

He could yet come into contention for the final two games of England’s Six Nations campaign after Tom Curry suffered a concussion in the win over Wales.

‘It’s been an unfortunate run of luck,’ Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper said of Underhill. ‘But now he is absolutely fine and is flying around.

‘There are two rounds of the Six Nations to go. Eddie is obviously in control of who he picks for England. What we want to ensure is that if Sam is picked for us, he’s playing well. 

‘Beyond that I’m sure he’ll get picked for England because he is an outstanding player.’

Underhill is set to make his first Bath appearance since January 22 against Bristol on Saturday

Jones will on Wednesday update his England squad for the meeting with Ireland at Twickenham a week on Saturday.

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall, who is back in charge after a break for personal reasons, has confirmed Owen Farrell is set to return to action at the end of this month.

Farrell was named as England captain for the Six Nations but was ruled out of the Championship after undergoing ankle surgery.

After being dropped by Wales, Gloucester wing Louis Rees- Zammit has taken his first steps into the modelling world by signing with London-based agency Milk Management. Rees-Zammit was left out of last Saturday’s defeat by England and sent back to play club rugby to improve his game.

He could yet come into contention for the final two games of England’s Six Nations campaign

Gloucester head coach George Skivington backed his 21-year-old star to respond. ‘If he can do some modelling, then good luck to him,’ Skivington said. ‘I’m probably more jealous than anything!

‘I’m more than happy for a player to do whatever they want on the side as long as it doesn’t bring the club into any trouble.

‘It’s been a first career setback for Louis. I expect he’ll learn a huge amount from it.’

Ealing and Doncaster have been left shocked after learning their hopes of promotion to the Gallagher Premiership had been ended by the Rugby Football Union.

It had been agreed the Premiership would expand to 14 teams for the 2022-23 campaign but that will now not happen. 

Eddie Jones will on Wednesday update his England squad for Ireland clash on March 12

Both Ealing and Doncaster failed to meet the RFU’s minimum standards criteria for promotion relating to the size of their home grounds.

The two teams were pondering whether to appeal the decision which will only serve to fuel further criticism of the Premiership as a closed shop.

England prop Joe Marler slammed the RFU for being ‘stuck in the dark ages’ and claimed ‘they would rather not grow the game’.

Alun Wyn Jones has joined up with the Wales squad preparing to face France as he continues his recovery from shoulder surgery.

World Rugby has moved to follow football’s governing body FIFA by banning Russia from its competitions after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.