Just three games back from a long injury lay-off, Carl Fearns declared that he is the second-best English No 8 behind Billy Vunipola in a pointed reminder to Eddie Jones.

Before suffering a ruptured ACL 12 months ago, Fearns had been in the form of his life leading to a nomination for Top 14 Player of the Year award, having topped the charts for most carries and most metres made by a forward. Such qualities are now desperately required by England head coach Jones, shorn of his leading light Vunipola as well as Sam Simmonds and Nathan Hughes for the autumn international series.

How different might things be had Fearns not reneged on his agreement to join Gloucester from Lyon in July 2017? By remaining in France, the 29 year-old is technically off limits to Jones and is only slowly recovering his fitness, coming off the bench in Lyon’s 29-10 Champions Cup defeat to Saracens on Saturday.

Yet what happens if England suffer another injury crisis at No 8 leading into next year’s World Cup? Given Vunipola’s suspect fitness record such a scenario is far from inconceivable. Does Jones reach for the “exceptional circumstances” clause that can theoretically be used to select overseas players? So far it has yet to be employed by the RFU, but Fearns is not giving up hope that Jones, as the arch pragmatist, may be the first England coach to break glass in case of emergency.