Ludlow sidelined for a couple of weeks

GLOUCESTER captain Lewis Ludlow missed the Premiership trip to Welford Road on Friday night having suffered a foot injury in last weekend’s Premiership Rugby Cup final win over the Tigers.

Flanker Ludlow, who has built a reputation for putting his body on the line for the cause, limped off the field in the closing moments of Friday’s 23-13 win and was seen hobbling around the stadium postmatch with swelling around his foot and ankle.

Cherry and Whites director of rugby George Skivington confirmed his club captain would miss the trip, but said: “He is okay, it is not catastrophic for him but it will be a couple of weeks [out] for Lewis. It is more of a pain issue, it is an injury you can play with, and Luds can play in pain so it is not a nightmare for him but we are just trying to be smart around it.”

The positive news for Gloucester is there is significant competition in that area with Zach Mercer, Ruan Ackermann and Albert Tuisue fit and available and Jack Clement having a stormer of the season.

Skivington said: “There are lots of players competing for places in the backrow, there is an argument to be made that Jack Clement has been one of our best players this season and has been on the bench.

“Sometimes you are in a position where you have a player with a niggle or a lesser injury and you can bring someone in who is healthy without sacrificing quality and I feel we are lucky in that position.

While the Cherry and Whites will be without George Mcguigan for the rest of the season after the hooker suffered a leg injury on Friday that required surgery,

Jonny May returned from injury at Welford Road, while the front row had a boost with Argentina international prop Mayco Vivas returning, while Val Rapava-ruskin came through his first 40 minutes since September last weekend but did not feature on Friday night.

Skivington said: “Val has come through it okay. He probably came back a week or two earlier than we would have liked [because of injuries with Ciaran Knight injuring his calf], he had only hit four scrums before the game.

“He is okay and a little bit sore. I made a call about what is best for the rest of the season.

“Fraser [Balmain] is semi-training with us so he is only a couple of weeks away from being available.”