Phil Godman was last seen limping about during Edinburgh’s very impressive victory over the Ospreys on Sunday (anyone spot Clancy whistling up 20 seconds before time?!), but no word on troubles with any other Scotland players. So in the meantime here, lukewarmish off the presses and in the interests of fair reporting, an injury report on players in England’s EPS who may not feature against us next weekend:
(now updated with Scotland news)
- Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers) is being reviewed today by the England medical team for a knock that he took on his head playing for Leicester Tigers in the Guinness Premiership and Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints) has been called up as a precaution.
- Olly Morgan (Gloucester Rugby) has also been included as cover for Delon Armitage (London Irish) who is recovering well from his rib injury.
- Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby) returns to the Senior England EPS and replaces Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers) who is unavailable because of an ankle injury.
- Simon Shaw is continuing his rehab and will not be available for the Scotland game. Tom Palmer (Stade Francais) has been called up as an injury replacement for Simon.
- Dan Ward-Smith (London Wasps) is being reviewed today regarding an MCL knee injury he sustained at the weekend. A decision regarding a possible scan will be made today by the England and London Wasps medical teams. Hendre Fourie (Leeds Carnegie) has been called up as a precaution.
Some of these are exactly the sort of thing that scares me about the game this weekend. The England team that we have seen so far are not overly scary although improving, but what if some young tyro with a point to prove (Foden, Fourie) comes in and does a number on fragile Scottish egos/defences? The loss of Shaw is a big blow to our southern cousins though. Scotland news update:
Captain Chris Cusiter missed tonight’s open training session at Murrayfield as Scotland began their preparations in earnest for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash.
Cusiter was confined to bed this afternoon suffering from a viral complaint. The Scotland medical team expect he will be able to resume training tomorrow. His Glasgow Warriors team-mate, flanker John Barclay, also missed tonight’s training session on account of a knee knock. The medics also expect him to resume training tomorrow.
Under the usual protocol, players involved in matches for Edinburgh, Ospreys and Gloucester yesterday were excused training today though a number of those players asked if they could participate in tonight’s drills.
Scotland team doctor James Robson reported that the Edinburgh quartet Phil Godman (knee), Mike Blair (head knock)and Nick De Luca and Roddy Grant (both dead legs) were nursing injuries from their Magners League win over the Ospreys yesterday.
In addition Alasdair Strokosch (ankle) and Alasdair Dickinson (head knock) were also being monitored by the medical team after injuries they sustained in their match against Wasps yesterday.
Don’t forget if you are in Edinburgh early this weekend, there is a Bill McLaren tribute at Murrayfield on Thursday night, free entry, doors at 5pm (6.30pm “kickoff”).