Underhill ruled out of third Test against Australia
England must enter their series decider against Australia without both of their ‘Kamikaze Kids’ after Sam Underhill was ruled out of the third Test because of concussion.
Underhill was replaced during the second-half of the 25-17 victory at Suncorp Stadium having suffered a head injury while tackling wing Marika Koroibete and he has now been stood down for Saturday’s clash in Sydney.
It comes in the wake of Tom Curry returning home last week after being concussed in the first Test and England have only escaped a full-blown injury crisis at flanker by the news that Jack Willis has been cleared to train.
Willis withdrew from the bench just hours before the series was levelled in Brisbane due to a rib problem, but he is on course to provide cover in the pivotal Test while Lewis Ludlam is set to join Courtney Lawes and Billy Vunipola in the starting back row.
England have suffered a heavy toll from concussion during the series with Maro Itoje already confirmed as unavailable for the final instalment because of the blow he took when tackling Hunter Paisami in Brisbane.
Including the Wallabies’ Jordan Petaia and Allan Alaalatoa, a total of five players have now been ruled out indefinitely because of brain injuries sustained in the first two Tests.
“Maro Itoje and Sam Underhill have been withdrawn from the England squad after suffering concussions in last weekend’s win against Australia. No replacements will be called up,” a Rugby Football Union statement read.
Underhill and Curry were dubbed the ‘Kamikaze Kids’ by Eddie Jones on the basis of their fearless play, but England’s head coach must now do without a duo who lit up the 2019 World Cup.
It was decided that Curry should return home in the “interest of player welfare and recovery” having been concussed for the third time in sixth months, most likely as a result of tackling Samu Kerevi in Perth.
Underhill, meanwhile, has a history of injuries of this nature and missed three months earlier this season after sustaining two head knocks in December.
“When it comes to concussions, player welfare is always now first and foremost,” said Underhill last Tuesday ahead of his return to the back row.
“There is no grey area – you are either okay or you are not and if you are not okay you are looked after. It’s always a frustrating injury because you can’t do an awful lot.
“One of the symptoms is tiredness so you don’t want to be falling asleep, it’s more of a symptom check.
“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.
“It’s physically fairly basic and you can’t do an awful lot. That’s why it’s frustrating.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments