EDDIE HAS A WEIGHT PROBLEM
Vunipola’s England stand-in Hughes limps off as Wasps crumble to Bath
NATHAN HUGHES capped an uncomfortable weekend for Eddie Jones by limping out of Wasps’ latest defeat.
The Fijian-born star is England’s first-choice No.8 with Billy Vunipola sidelined until next year following knee surgery.
Yet he failed even to reach halftime in Coventry before being forced off the field with a leg injury.
“Nathan has a bad dead leg,” Wasps boss Dai Young admitted after seeing last season’s Premiership finalists lose for the third straight game – their worst run for 18 months.
“We’re hoping he’ll recover by next week, but I remember saying the same about Danny Cipriani and it ended up being three months. So what do I know?”
Young delivered the news as confirmation came out of Twickenham that England prop Kyle Sinckler had been cited for an alleged gouging offence.
The Harlequins tyro will appear before a disciplinary tribunal tomorrow and faces a lengthy ban if proven guilty. England play Argentina in the first of three Twickenham internationals a month from now and thus far Jones’ squad has largely avoided the rash of injuries that have scarred the first month of this campaign. The Australian will take encouragement from Young’s instant diagnosis that Hughes is “not looking at any knee instability”, even if the Welshman did start the sentence with the words, “It is too early to tell”. Harlequins’ Jack Clifford, 24, is the next No.8 cab off the rank, although he has started only one Test in that position.
For now, Jones will doubtless prefer to focus on another defensive masterclass from Sam Underhill (below), who matched the 25 tackles he made on his Bath debut a fortnight ago.
The West Country outfit richly deserved their win, even if there was a question mark over Semesa Rokoduguni’s late try.
Wasps were awful, a side bereft of the swagger that carried them through last season. Failing to score a try for the first time in 18 months really was no way to celebrate their 150th anniversary.
Yet any criticism has to be offset by a recognition that their squad is ravaged by injury. As Young put it: “Selection headache? Not really. We’ve got 23 guys to pick 23 from.”
And next week they go to European champions Saracens.
WASPS – Pens: Gopperth 3 BATH – Try: Rokoduguni. Con: Burns. Pens: Priestland 3, Burns 2. Drop: Priestland