Winger swap May’s return is timely after LRZ injury blow
GEORGE Skivington looks set to switch one international winger for another this weekend as England’s Jonny May returns to club duty, and is likely to replace injured Welshman Louis Rees-zammit as Gloucester host Northampton Saints in the Gallagher Premiership.
With Wales’ 39-34 defeat to Australia on Saturday falling outside of the international window, Rees-zammit was in club action last weekend as Gloucester were beaten 21-12 by Harlequins.
But the winger’s game was ended early as he was carried from The Stoop pitch by medics following a heavy airborne collision which left him in a heap.
He was attended to on the pitch for 10 minutes having his hip seen to, before being carried back to the changing rooms for further treatment.
Providing an update on his X-factor winger, Cherry and Whites head coach Skivington said: “He had a bang to his hip and I think sometimes those things shut down fast, especially when you are a fast twitch muscle fibre player like Zam.
“I think it can feel pretty catastrophic at the time and then you get a few days later and it is not as bad, thankfully, as it could have been.”
Skivington confirmed Rees-zammit’s injury is a collision one, rather than anything structural, but said: “We are taking our time with him and will make sure it is right but it is not as bad as we first thought.”
Having tried to battle through the pain Rees-zammit finally admitted defeat on Friday night after the ball was worked wide to him in space and he put his foot down to accelerate away only to discover he couldn’t put any power through his hips.
Skivington said: “The timing of it wasn’t great.
“For someone like Zam who is wired and moves at the pace that he does it probably looked a bit more dramatic than it really was.”
Meanwhile, May is back from England’s torrid Autumn Nations Series which has left head coach Eddie Jones fighting for his job, to rekindle his Cherry and Whites career having been absent for most of the last year either through injury or on international duty.
Skivington said: “Jonny has played for England more than Gloucester this season.
“It was great that he got that game time but it is great to have him back here.
“After the last few weeks it is great to have an experienced senior player back in the mix, the inexperienced young guns have been outnumbering the experienced players for the last month and that has had some positives but not in terms of getting points in the Premiership.”
» Gloucester-hartpury produced another statement result on Saturday to beat Bristol Bears 36-5 and secure their second-straight Allianz Premier 15s win of the campaign.
Neve Jones finished off two carboncopy lineout drives either side of a Phoebe Murray score for Bristol in the first half, which ended with the Cherry & Whites leading 10-5.
Sean Lynn’s side then produced a blistering second half performance.
Mia Venner was first on the scoresheet after the restart, finishing off a looping pass into the corner, and Ellie Rugman followed that up with a brace in the opposite corner.
Emma Sing converted both of Rugman’s tries and scored a 67th-minute try of her own – before adding the extras - to put the result beyond doubt.