Saracens and Scotland centre Duncan Taylor suffered another major setback in his comeback from injury while playing for Saracens (2nds). This time it is a knee injury, according to the club website:
Scotland international Taylor suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in the Premiership Rugby Shield. The 29-year-old is set to see a specialist to assess the full extent of the damage. (saracens.com)
It represents a further blow for the player who was in the papers just last weekend discussing his injury woes both in terms of the body, and also a long undiagnosed migraine issue. In recent years he has had problems with his back, shoulder, knees and head. He only had 6 starts for his club last season – and only 2 of those took place during 2018.
A knee injury like this could have serious implications for his ambitions to play at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. The long term injury that kept Mark Bennett out most of last year was similar although the precise damage to Taylor’s knee is not yet known. Recovery times for similar injuries can be as much as six months and that is in terms of fitness not accounting for the form or sharpness required to get into Saracens first team or a Scotland squad heaving with midfield talent.
Taylor has not featured for Scotland since the 2017 summer tour although he has been in most of Townsend’s training squads since then.
We wish him all the best with his recovery.