Young faces race to be fit for weekend

THOMAS Young is ‘touch and go’ to recover from a fresh injury blow ahead of Six Nations and Gallagher Premiership matches this weekend.

The Welsh openside hobbled off early into the fourth minute of Wasps’ 19-14 defeat to Leicester Tigers.

Proceedings at Welford Road were 100 seconds old when Tigers captain Tom Youngs and Kyle Eastmond simultaneously drove into Young’s pelvis area while he was competing for the ball at a break down.

After battling to stay on, Young hobbled off, paving the way for Jack Willis to make a longer-than-expected appearance in his second game back from a nine-month lay-off following reconstructive knee surgery.

“It was basically a direct blow on the hip flexor,” said Wasps director of rugby Dai Young. “He’s hobbling about, it doesn’t look too good.

“It’s not going to be an operation job but he’s certainly compromised at the minute.”

Young made his first Six Nations appearance for Wales against Italy in round two of this season’s competition but was left out of the Wales squad to face England at the Principality Stadium.

The 26-year-old was free to play for Wasps against Sale Sharks last weekend but a chest infection prevented him from featuring in the 24-18 loss at the Ricoh Arena.

His latest setback could rule him out of contention for Wales’ trip to Scotland as well as Wasps’ clash with Newcastle Falcons at the Ricoh Arena with both games taking place on Saturday.

Young senior added: “If there was a game tomorrow, he definitely wouldn’t be playing. It will be touch and go whether he’s fit for this week, but only time will tell.”