Nowell the third player to be injured at England camp
JACK NOWELL faces weeks out of action after returning from England’s training camp with a torn thigh muscle.
The Exeter wing is the third member of the England squad to suffer serious injury at the training camp in Brighton, following Wasps flanker Sam Jones’s broken leg and Bath winger Anthony Watson breaking his jaw.
Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, announced Nowell’s injury after the Chiefs’ 27-27 draw with Gloucester in the Aviva Premiership.
Baxter said: ‘Jack had a run-out with us last weekend and had his first bit of rugby. England seemed to have loaded him more than we would have done.
‘We were told that the injury was minor but when we scanned him, he had a 9 to 10centimetre tear in his quad which will put him out for weeks.’
Nowell may miss the autumn internationals, which begin with England playing South Africa at Twickenham on November 12.
After today’s game, Baxter praised Exeter’s efforts as they came back from 27-14 with 10 minutes remaining to hold Gloucester, thanks to a try from Damian Welch 30 seconds from the final whistle.
Two tries from Ian Whitten and one from Thomas Waldrom secured Exeter a bonus point. Gareth Steenson completed the scoring with a penalty and two conversions.
Gloucester came into the game off two defeats, but despite not picking up a deserved win, their coach, David Humphreys, accepted it was an improved performance from his side.
Gloucester scored tries through Matt Scott, Ben Morgan and Charlie Sharples. Greig Laidlaw converted all three and kicked a penalty, with Billy Twelvetrees adding a long-range effort.
Promoted side Bristol’s search for their first Premiership win of the season continues after going close at Kingston Park.
Newcastle were 19-0 up at half-time with tries from Juan Pablo Socino, Will Welch and Joel Hodgson and two Mike Delany conversions, but in the end they were clinging on for a 19-14 victory, as Bristol dominated the second half, scoring two converted tries, through Jon Fisher and Mitch Eadie, with Adrian Jarvis adding the extras.