Steve Borthwick's England plans take a hit, but not as severely as feared

England wing Tommy Freeman has been passed fit to start for Northampton Saints on Friday against Newcastle Red Bulls at Kingston Park in the Gallagher PREM.

In his first outing of the season following his exploits with the British & Irish Lions over the summer, a hip injury forced the 24-year-old from the field early in the second half of the East Midlands derby victory over Leicester Tigers to set alarm bells ringing for England head coach Steve Borthwick.

Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson downplayed the severity of the injury post-match, and shared that same sentiment in the week, but said that it was touch-and-go whether Freeman could make the weekend.

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Much to Borthwick’s delight, Freeman has been named at full-back for the Saints on Friday, taking George Hendy’s place, who was another casualty from the 32-26 win over their neighbours. Like Freeman, Hendy’s leg injury is not believed to be serious, but it was enough to prevent him from travelling north for round four of the PREM season.

While this is a boost for England and Borthwick, Gloucester confirmed when naming their squad to play Bristol Bears on Friday that centre Seb Atkinson will “undergo a period of rehabilitation” after sustaining a knee and hip injury against Bath.

The long trip north ☝️

Here are your Saints to tackle the Red Bulls.https://t.co/Ah10HhrMLl pic.twitter.com/OqfNysFjV3

— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) October 16, 2025

The 23-year-old earned his first two England caps in the 2-0 series win over Argentina in July, and was tipped to hold onto the No.12 jersey heading into the Autumn Nations Series campaign.

However, the centre looked in visible discomfort when he was helped from the field in the final 10 minutes of the Cherry and Whites’ 38-17 loss at the Rec.

While Gloucester have stated that Atkinson will not require surgery on the injury, he is now expected to be sidelined, though it has not been specified for how long.

Borthwick will name an initial England training squad on Sunday before a three-day training camp, followed by the final squad announcement a week later, ahead of their first Test of the autumn against Australia on November 1. Whether Atkinson can feature in England’s November campaign – where they face Fiji, the All Blacks and Argentina after the Wallabies – remains unknown, but he will obviously be unavailable for the upcoming training camp, which will likely affect the coaching team’s initial plans.