Coaches hit out over boot-camp injuries
England have come under fresh criticism over their now infamous two-day training camp in Brighton last week in which Wasps’ flanker Sam Jones broke a leg during a judo session, Bath wing Anthony Watson broke his jaw in a rugby session – and now it appears Exeter’s Jack Nowell injured a thigh.
It has already sparked a row about the intensity and the timing of the sessions, with Premiership Rugby and Saracens’ director of rugby, Mark McCall, particularly vocal. Now two Premiership directors of rugby, Bath’s Todd Blackadder and Exeter’s Rob Baxter, have expressed their disappointment at the way injuries were handled and the information was given by England.
Bath did not discover the extent of Watson’s injury until he returned to the club. “We are really disappointed we had to find out the way that we did,” Blackadder told BT Sport. “Anthony has had surgery and is likely to be out for quite a while. It’s a serious one because he’s eating through a straw.”
Nowell (pictured) also returned to Exeter injured. “He did it in training with England last Monday, and he was probably loaded in a way we wouldn’t have loaded him, especially when he had only played his first rugby back from injury last weekend,” said Baxter. “He was sent back to us with a report that they couldn’t find any significant damage. We scanned the injury and found a nine-to-10 centimetre tear in his quad, so he will be out for a number of weeks.” The Rugby Football Union declined to comment. Flanker Mike Williams added to England’s concerns, missing Leicester’s match with Worcester when, during the warm-up, he suffered an injury suffered to the arm he has broken twice before. “Hopefully it’s just a bit of nerve irritation and he will be fine,” Richard Cockerill, the Leicester director of rugby, said.
Jack Nowell, the Exeter winger, is a major doubt for England’s autumn internationals after returning from the national squad’s controversial training camp in Brighton with a significant injury. Nowell is facing several weeks out of action after tearing a quad muscle, to the frustration of his club’s head coach Rob Baxter.
“He did it in training with England last Monday, and he was probably loaded in a way we wouldn’t have loaded him, especially when he had only played his first bit of rugby back from injury last weekend against Northampton,” said Baxter. “More disappointingly, he was sent back to us with a report that they couldn’t find any significant damage, and it was just a bit of loading and he was a bit sore.
“We fortunately scanned the injury and found a nine-to-ten centimetre tear in his quad, so that is a significant injury and he is going to be out for a number of weeks.”
Nowell missed a cliffhanger of a derby when a Damian Welch try 40 seconds from time saw Exeter snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat. Fly-half Gareth Steenson was just wide with the touchline conversion, but it would have been cruel on Gloucester if it had gone over. They had looked the better side for sizeable parts of the game, and seemed to be heading for their third victory in four league visits to Sandy Park when they led 27-14 with 10 minutes left. However, they again demonstrated their vulnerability when in front and incredibly left Devon with only two points to show for their efforts compared to three for Exeter, who managed four tries.
“It was a performance from us that had everything – good, bad and ugly,” said Baxter. “To score three times in the last 15 minutes to draw the game shows a fantastic amount of character.”
Gloucester grabbed a 12th-minute lead with a try by Matt Scott with Greig Laidlaw converting. Exeter hit back 12 minutes later when No8 Thomas Waldrom barrelled over beside the posts, with Steenson’s boot levelling the scores. It took Gloucester only two minutes to restore their lead when Charlie Sharples caught a high kick and raced over the try line to mark his 200th competitive appearance for the Cherry and Whites, after the officials had a missed a foot in touch by James Hook earlier in the move, for which referee Greg Garner later apologised.
Exeter put that behind them and Sam Hill unlocked the Gloucester defence to set up a try for Ian Whitten, Steenson converting for 14-14. Gloucester regained the advantage two minutes before the break when Billy Twelvetrees banged over a 50-metre penalty to edge the visitors 17-14 in front at the interval. Laidlaw missed a 40 metre penalty chance, but two minutes later Exeter gave him an easier opportunity, and he made no mistake.
The Chiefs’ Luke Cowan-Dickie was then stripped of the ball and David Halaifonua put No8 Ben Morgan in for a score, converted by Laidlaw, for a convincing 13-point lead. Exeter perseverance was rewarded with Whitten’s second try, but Steenson missed the difficult touchline conversion and they remained two scores behind. A longrange penalty kept Exeter hopes alive, and when Gloucester infringed on halfway, he booted the ball into touch five metres out, and Welch finished off the catch-and-drive line-out.
Scores 0-5 Scott try; 0-7 Laidlaw con; 5-7 Waldrom try; 7-7 Steenson con; 7-12 Sharples try; 7-14 Laidlaw con; 12-14 Whitten try; 14-14 Steenson con; 14-17 Twelvetrees pen; 14-20 Laidlaw pen; 14-25 Morgan try; 14-27 Laidlaw con; 19-27 Whitten try; 22-27 Steenson pen; 27-27 Welch try. Exeter L Turner; O Woodburn, S Hill, H Slade (O Devoto 59), I Whitten; G Steenson (capt), W Chudley (D Lewis 59); B Moon (C Rimmer 70), L Cowan-Dickie (J Yeandle 66), G Holmes (H Williams 59), M Lees (D Welch 51), G Parling, D Dennis (K Horstmann 20-27, 51), J Salvi, T Waldrom. Replacement M Bodilly. Gloucester J Hook; C Sharples (O Thorley 71), M Scott, B Twelvetrees, D Halaifonua; M Atkinson, G Laidlaw (capt); P McAllister (Y Thomas 49), R Hibbard (M Matu’u 67), P DoranJones, T Savage (J Latta 57), M Galarza, R Moriarty, J Rowan (M Kvesic 60), B Morgan. Replacements N Thomas, W Heinz, L Ludlow. Referee G Garner (RFU).