Steve Borthwick has lost two forwards a month before the Nations Championship. Both injuries happened in the opening round of the Premiership on 25 and 26 September.

Underhill went off after 48 minutes of Bath’s 33-17 win at Harlequins on Friday 25 September. It was his comeback match after missing the July Tests with a shoulder injury. Scans confirmed a ruptured biceps, and surgery was scheduled for Thursday 1 October.

“At the time it was very much, we need to wait for the scan, but this could be a bicep rupture. And the scan turned out to be exactly that,” said Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan, who expects him back “whether it is December or January”.

A fourth operation in two years for Rodd

The Sale loosehead fractured his scaphoid against Bristol and played 20 minutes with the injury. After surgery he faces eight to 12 weeks out. It is his fourth operation in two years: he had already missed the summer tour after dislocating a shoulder in April, in a Champions Cup match against Harlequins.

“It’s not devastating, but it is a bit crushing for him at this point,” said Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson, who expects him back at the lower end of the estimate.

50 caps for Underhill

Underhill has 50 England caps, 44 of them as a starter. He played all five matches of the last Six Nations, three as a starter, according to Rugbyrama. Rodd, who has 16 caps, came off the bench five times in the same tournament.

England host Australia on 8 November, Japan on the 14th and New Zealand on the 21st, before finals weekend. In the back row, Borthwick can still call on Ollie Chessum, Henry Pollock, Ben Earl, Tom Curry, Guy Pepper and Chandler Cunningham-South. Curry has just extended his contract with Sale until 2028.

Key figures

50 England caps for Sam Underhill, 44 as a starter

48th minute he went off against Harlequins, in his comeback match

8-12 weeks out for Bevan Rodd after scaphoid surgery

4 operations in two years for Rodd, who has 16 caps