"He is absolutely fine" - Sam Underhill set for England return following concussion hell

Sam Underhill was left out of England squad in January on fitness grounds but could return to the fold after he makes his playing comeback this weekend.

He is set to make his first Bath appearance since January 22 against Bristol on Saturday.

‘It’s been an unfortunate run of luck,’ Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper said of Underhill. ‘But now he is absolutely fine and is flying around.

‘There are two rounds of the Six Nations to go. Eddie is obviously in control of who he picks for England. What we want to ensure is that if Sam is picked for us, he’s playing well. 

‘Beyond that I’m sure he’ll get picked for England because he is an outstanding player.’

Bath were in no rush to bring back the England flanker after he suffered his fourth concussion in two months against Leinster in late January.

After treatment, Underhill exited to the dressing rooms for a head injury assessment but he didn’t return to take his place back from his replacement, Josh McNally.

Commenting on the incident for BT Sport, ex-England No8 Lawrence Dallaglio said: “A lot these injuries come from the second or third tackler coming in and it’s Underhill, he gets his head in the wrong place.”

Commentator Alastair Eykyn added: “That is nasty in itself but he has only just come back from concussion problems and it was one of the reasons for his absence from the England Six Nations squad, so this will be a grave concern to club and country.”

The powerhouse centre initially returned to England's XV for Saturday's Six Nations win over Wales but was ruled out of the squad hours later after he suffered a recurrence of the hamstring injury that sidelined him in November.

Tuilagi has been sent back to Sale with director of rugby Alex Sanderson wanting better alignment when managing the star.

"It was probably just a little bit too far, a little bit too soon," he told reporters. "We’ve spoken to Eddie and liaised with England’s physios and S&C [strength and conditioning] staff.

"We’re all on the same page and we need to catch up post-Six Nations to understand how we can potentially manage it better. But we’re struggling to see how we can at the moment, apart from it being too much too soon.

"You can look and delve into things and go down rabbit holes, but sometimes you can see ghosts which aren’t actually there. It’s important to understand that.

"The reason why we want to sit down together is over concern for the player. It’s not over grey areas. I just want us to be on the same page."

The hooker could miss the rest of the season after injuring knee ligaments against Wales.

The 28-year-old Exeter captain limped off in the first half of England's Six Nations win over Wales last week.

"It's a pretty significant injury. It's an operative injury on a knee ligament and a bit of cartilage damage," said Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter.

"He's definitely going to be out for a significant period of time, possibly the rest of the season."

The flanker will miss training this week while he recovers from a head knock.

Curry has joined up with the Red Rose squad for the camp in Bristol, to go through his return-to-play protocols.

The Exeter lock remains with the squad as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury.

The England captain has not featured since the Autumn Nations Series in November but Sarries boss Mark McCall insists that the 30-year-old is on track to be back on the field before the end of the month.

“His recovery is going positively, and we’re certainly hoping he’ll be back playing towards the end of March – exactly when that will be I’m not sure,” he told reporters. “It’s weeks rather than months.

“He’s not doing any training with the team, he’s still with our performance team, but he’s actively involved in meetings, preparation and that kind of thing.

“He is getting closer to being able to play again so there are only hopefully three, four, five weeks before he plays again.

“He is excited about getting his boots back on, getting out there and helping the team again. He always has got a huge influence anyway, just how smart he is about the game and how good he is at helping a lot of the individuals in the team.”