Underhill was ruled out of the third Test against Australia
Underhill was ruled out of the third Test against Australia. Sam Underhill has been ruled out of the deciding Test of England against Australia on Saturday, forcing Eddie Jones to reshuffle his pack for the pivotal game in Sydney. Underhill received a head injury in the second half of the victory in Brisbane and prematurely joined Maro Itoje in being withdrawn from the squad.
Jones had already lost his first-choice openside flanker, Tom Curry, who also is under the effect of concussion and with Underhill ruled out for the same reason England strives to wrap up the series without their “Kamikaze Kids” – a nickname that was assigned to them in the build-up to the 2019 World Cup when they constructed a challenging double act.
Itoje suffered a nasty-looking blow on the head in the first half and was ruled out of the third Test shortly after Jones had already lost three of his most influential and significant forwards to head injuries which is an alarming attrition rate at the end of a grueling season. It was revealed that the concussions in elite English rugby hit their highest levels since records began.
Underhill started the 25-17 victory in Brisbane but after receiving the head injury he initially fell motionless on his back before groggily trying to get to his feet and attempting to play on, only for medics to intervene. Given the concussion history of Underhill – he missed nearly three months of the season before for Bath due to head injuries.
Lewis Ludlam is the most preferred player to fill the void at openside and in better news for Jones Jack Willis is also available for selection, who was initially ruled out of the second Test because of a rib injury. Initial reports indicated that Willis was a doubt for the Sydney match but the latest prognosis turns out to be positive.
Underhill and Itoje are due to fly home this week, and on the other hand, Jones has decided not to call up any replacements. When Curry was ruled out of the tour last week, Jones started looking into calling up a replacement with Tom Pearson of the London Irish under consideration but then he decided that there were no viable alternatives given the length of time it would take for the players to travel and get up to speed.
Jack Nowell has revealed that winning the series would be more memorable than the 3-0 defeat against Australia in 2016 provided that England was beaten in the opener in Perth by the 14-man Wallabies.
He said: “If I look back to last time we were out here, winning 3-0 was special but to come from 1-0 down, and hopefully the idea is to go 2-1 at the end of it, is hopefully one I will remember more.”
“The thing we spoke about [last Saturday] was if we lose, we lose the series, it is as simple as that and when you keep it that simple it frees us up on the field. In the first half, we were dominant. Australia came back but where we are as a squad, we were able to handle that and fire through, especially the forwards. Our lineout and maul, those boys leading it, [were] awesome.”
“Maro Itoje and Sam Underhill have been withdrawn from the England squad after suffering concussions in last weekend’s win against Australia. No replacements will be called up,” a Rugby Football Union statement read.
“When it comes to concussions, player welfare is always now first and foremost,” said Underhill last Tuesday ahead of his return to the back row.Underhill and Curry were given the nickname the ‘Kamikaze Kids’ by Eddie Jones based on their fearless play, but the head coach must now do without a duo who were at their pinnacle in the 2019 World Cup.