Bristol Bears star Sam Jeffries looks increasingly likely to be named in England's squad to face Australia on Saturday in the final game of the three-Test tour with the series level at 1-1.
Uncapped Jeffries, who can play both flanker and lock, was called up late in the day to fly out to Australia in place of Bath skipper Charlie Ewels who injured his ACL in training before the first Test which England went on to lose 30-28 despite playing more than half the game with an extra player.
Jeffries and fellow Bristol star Harry Randall were not involved on Saturday as England levelled the series with a 25-17 win. But victory came at a physical cost four the tourist as lock Maro Itoje and flanker Sam Underhill both suffered concussions and will play no further part in the tour.
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That double injury blow comes on top of the news that Wasps flanker Jack Willis suffered a rib injury in training last week that forced him to withdraw from the matchday 23 on Saturday having been named on the bench. Willis could feature this weekend but is touch and go.
England head coach Eddie Jones has confirmed he will not fly any additional players out to Australia with the third Test just five days away, meaning he has Ollie Chessum, Jonny Hill, Courtney Lawes, Nick Isiekwe, Lewis Ludlam, Billy Vunipola and Jeffries to cover the back five of the scrum plus at least a couple of spots on the bench should Willis not recover in time.
Concussion continues to dog flanker Underhill's career with the Bath forward sidelined for more than two months at the turn of the year after receiving a pair of head blows on club duty either side of Christmas.
Speaking about concussion last week in relation to Tom Curry, who has already withdrawn from the tour after taking a knock to the head in the first Test, Underhill said: “I have been there earlier in the season with concussion and it is not something to mess about with. When it comes to concussions, player welfare is always now first and foremost. There is no grey area, you are either okay or you are not and if you are not okay you are looked after.
“It is frustrating, you have obviously got a return to play protocol so you check off bike, run, some training and it can get fairly menial and tedious doing the same thing over and over again which is physically fairly basic and you can’t do an awful lot.”
Eddie Jones’ side are in Coogee preparing for the deciding Test at Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday [16 July, 11am BST KO].
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