SAINTS and England stand off Jack Welsby injured his hand in the last 10 minutes of the semi final defeat by Samoa - but the club's medical staff are confident of a swift recovery with rest.

Welsby recoiled in some discomfort on the floor after making a tackle in the 71st minute of the game.

The Saints physios examined Welsby's hand earlier today (Tuesday) before he breaks for off-season rest.

Saints coach Paul Wellens said: "The physio did consider sending him for an X-ray, but having looked at him he was able to do a lot of things with his hand that he wouldn't be able to do with a fracture.

"The medical team are very confident he is going to be fine.

"It is Jack's responsibility while he is away to keep us updated if he feels there are any further problems.

"But the initial prognosis is that he just needs to give it some rest and he will be fine."

Although the senior Saints players have returned to training this week after the younger members started back, the England semi-finalists will only come back after Christmas.

Wellens said: "I have a real trust with the lads who went away with England.

"They will be naturally disappointed that they did not progress, but once they have had a few weeks rest they will start to get excited about joining up with the rest of the squad again.

"I am sure that even though they won't have an extended pre-season, they are all guys that look after themselves really well.

“I have every confidence that by the time the season comes around they will have had enough work put into them they will be able to perform at the level they have become accustomed to.”