Cokanasiga to miss opener after injury
The medical and coaching staff at Bath Rugby are awaiting the results of a scan on the knee of Joe Cokanasiga after the giant winger picked up an injury against Cardiff Rugby on Friday.
England star Cokanasiga, 23, (inset) who has now scored 11 tries in 11 Tests on the international stage, left the Cardiff Arms Park pitch after 20 minutes following lengthy treatment and testing on his left knee after a big collision with Cardiff centre Max Llewellyn.
The blow was to the front of his left knee, the same one he had surgery on after an injury in 2019 with England which sidelined Cokanasiga for the best part of 16 months before he made his club return in the winter of 2020.
Providing an update on Cokanasiga, Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper said: “He is in a brace.
“He has had a scan and we are just waiting for a report on that scan now to find out what the extent of the injury is. Being in a brace, he is not going to be available this week.”
With Cokanasiga ruled out, Bath head to Sale Sharks on Saturday in the opening round of the Gallagher Premiership with a race against time to get two of their other top wing talents on the pitch, Ruaridh Mcconnochie and Will Muir.
A combination of illness and injury ruled them out last weekend, however Gabe Hamerwebb performed well when he was brought into the game.
Discussing the pair of wingers who missed the 25-14 defeat to Cardiff, Hooper said: “Those guys are back in training, it is now a judgment call about when we put them back in.
“They are back out on the training field and doing pretty much full sessions, it is just about making a decision on when they are ready to play.”
England scrum-half Ben Spencer, who also missed the friendly in Wales for personal reasons, has been in full training at Farleigh House this week and is likely to play at the AJ Bell on Saturday.
With Bath’s scrum struggling at times against Cardiff with new signings Johannes Jonker and D’arcy Rae making their debut, Hooper also provided an update on England tighthead prop Will Stuart who missed the match.
He said: “Stuart is back in full training and he will be there or thereabouts this weekend.”
Meanwhile, Bath could get a boost earlier than many expected in the sizeable form of a fit and focused Taulupe Faletau who returned to Farleigh House on Monday just five weeks after clocking off for the British and Irish Lions in South Africa.
Hooper said: “Taulupe and Anthony [Watson] came back in on Monday, they had their five weeks away and now they are back in and starting their build-up towards being ready to play.
“Taulupe has done really well in the off-season, he has had a bit of time off but he has looked after himself really well and come back in at a place where he is ready to push on and be involved with training.
“It just becomes a call of when he is ready to play a game.
“Anthony is different with the EPS agreement [which means at a member of the England Elite Player Squad he must be rested for at least another four weeks].”