BATH centre Jonathan Joseph will be available for the start of England's RBS 6 Nations campaign after making rapid progress in his recovery from chest surgery.

Joseph sustained the injury during the recent World Cup and upon returning to the Recreation Ground in mid October, medics decided he must undergo surgery to repair his damaged pectoral muscle.

The initial prognosis was an absence of around three months, placing his involvement against Scotland on February 6 in serious doubt, but his rehabilitation is well ahead of schedule.

"Jonathan is out of his sling, he's had early rehab and it's coincided with some time off after the World Cup," Bath assistant coach Toby Booth said.

"We've allowed him to go and freshen up and relax a little bit. Now he's into the rehab side of things.

"He's in front of schedule, which is fantastic for us. Everyone's different, but he's on course to probably be back in eight weeks rather than 12.

"Whereas we were looking at January, we're probably looking at December now."

Joseph now has a chance of playing a role in Bath's European double header against Wasps on December 13 and 19.

The injury ruled the outside centre out of England's 28-25 defeat by Wales on September 26, but he returned against Australia a week later before appearing as a replacement against Uruguay in the climax to Pool A.

Joseph faced a race against time to recover for the decisive match against the Wallabies and was passed fit only to see England crash out of their own World Cup with a 33-13 loss.