Watson’s pain gives Jones a headache
resigned to being without Sam Underhill until mid-May after he suffered a toe injury on England duty.
“Anthony has been in superb form this year and we’re obviously really disappointed to have lost him at a critical part of the season,” said Bath director of rugby Todd Blackadder.
“However, he is in great hands here with the support of the medical team at Bath Rugby and we will be working to ensure he is back to full fitness as soon as possible.”
England were in the process of trying out Watson in his club position of full-back after he started his Test career on the wing.
That experiment will now have to be put on ice with Mike Brown, who replaced the 24-year-old in the defeat to Ireland, the obvious beneficiary.
Jones’s alternative in the search for more pace at the back is to move Elliot Daly from the wing, but the Wasp comes into the category of Lions who may be rested by the England coach this summer.
The debate, given England’s sluggish showing in the championship, remains a live one. Former England centre Will Greenwood said: yesterday: “I genuinely think the most important thing Eddie Jones can do, and number one on his to-do list, is to get his British and Irish Lions players – the likes of Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell – to the beach this summer.
“Come the back end of May when the club competitions are over, the best thing that he can do is to send some of his senior players to the beach to spend time with their families.” Jones acknowledges the management of his Lions remains an issue after the majority were pressed back into Premiership service soon after the season kicked off. However the Australian refuses to accept his relentless training methods have added to their fatigue. “When you are developing people and are asking them to do other things, sometimes the weight of those things affects their performance in a negative way. “So they seem less energetic, but in fact they are just trying to cope with the new responsibilities,” claimed Jones. Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb will miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery. Webb, who leaves the Ospreys and joins Toulon in the summer, suffered the injury in training ahead of the first game of the championship. Wales duo Justin Tipuric and Hallam Amos have been drafted into the national Sevens squad for the Commonwealth Games in Australia. The pair are included in a 12-man party for Queensland next month. “It’s the chance of a lifetime,” said Tipuric. “If we can go there and win a medal it would be up there with some of my rugby highlights. “Sevens is probably a bit harder than 15s – you’ve got to be fitter – but there’s probably going to be a bit more sun than in Llandarcy.”