Underhill ruled out of Samoa showdown
MIKE Brown was last night declared available to face Samoa on Saturday but Sam Underhill has been ruled out of the climax to England’s autumn at Twickenham.
Brown has made a full recovery from the concussion sustained in the opener against Argentina but Bath star Underhill failed a head injury assessment in the opening quarter of the 30-6 victory over the Wallabies and has been stood down.
“Sam won’t be available. We’ve taken a step where we just feel he needs a rest this week,” head coach Eddie Jones said.
Rather than undergo the return-to-play protocols for concussion, Underhill has been immediately removed from contention for the Samoans’ visit to Twickenham.
Underhill, the big-hitting former Ospreys openside, took the blow to the head while attempting to tackle number eight Sean McMahon.
“That was his second concussion this season so we’ve taken the view that we won’t risk him this weekend,” Jones said.
England have been lifted by the imminent return of Brown, who was replaced by Anthony Watson at full-back against Australia.
“Hopefully he’s going to train this afternoon (Monday) so all things being equal he’s passed all of his stages,” Jones said.
“This is his next stage so we anticipate he’s going to be available for selection.”
“We’ve got a lot of bumps and bruises as it was a tough old Test against the Wallabies but at this stage I think everyone else will be available.”
Financially-stricken Samoa, whose union has declared itself bankrupt, are comfortably the weakest opposition of the autumn, but Jones insists they must not be underestimated.
“Traditionally Samoans have always wanted to hit hard,” Jones said.
“They’ll be disappointed with their performance against Romania (17-13 defeat in Bucharest on Saturday) but we know when they play at Twickenham they get excited and we anticipate we’ll have an exciting team on Saturday.
“We need to be right on the job and we emphasised that in our short team meeting ( on Monday).
“We’ve got to be better than we were last week.”