Exeter’s Rob Baxter is the latest Premiership head coach to hit out at England’s controversial training camp last week after confirming Jack Nowell has also reported back injured.
Nowell, who will be out for a number of weeks with a torn quadricep, joins the Bath winger Anthony Watson (broken jaw) and the Wasps flanker Sam Jones (broken leg) as casualties from Eddie Jones’s three-day camp in Brighton. Nowell made his first appearance of the season following a thumb injury two days before the camp began and Baxter believes the 23-year-old wing was pushed too hard.
“England seemed to have loaded him more than we would have done,” Baxter said, after his side’s 27-27 draw against Gloucester on Saturday. “More disappointingly, he was sent back to us with a report that they couldn’t find any significant damage. When we scanned him, he had a 9-10 centimetre tear in his quad which will put him out for weeks.”
Last week the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, said he was “flabbergasted” that the camp had been arranged less than two weeks before the start of the Champions Cup, before Premiership Rugby issued a statement questioning the format of the camp, that also featured a judo session where Sam Jones sustained his injury. “In the interests of player welfare, Premiership Rugby believes that England should not be doing full training sessions straight after a Premiership weekend,” read the statement.
Richard Cockerill, Leicester’s director of rugby, was more phlegmatic however, pointing to the compensation the Premiership clubs receive in the new £200m EPS deal which gives England greater access to players. “If you’re Eddie you’ve got to get ready for the Springboks. The agendas are different. There’s no point moaning about it. Players come back injured and we look after them.”
Cockerill also said he did not know how long Mike Williams would be sidelined for after picking up an arm injury just before the start of Leicester’s 34-13 win against Worcester. With Sam Jones, James Haskell and Jack Clifford all unavailable the uncapped Williams was in contention to start England’s autumn campaign at openside. “We’ll have it scanned and see where he’s at,” said Cockerill. “Hopefully it’s just a bit of nerve irritation and he’ll be fine but it is unfortunately the same arm [he broke twice last season].”
