Baxter confirms Nowell injury

By Mark Stevens
8/10/2016

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter expressed his disappointment after it was confirmed Jack Nowell is set for another spell on the sidelines.

The Cornishman returned to competitive action at Northampton Saints last week following surgery on a thumb injury, but within days of pulling on an Exeter jersey for the first time this season, he picked up a quad injury during England’s latest training camp in Brighton.

Although Baxter has not put an exact timescale on how long the 23-year-old back will be out for, news that he will be sidelined for a crucial block of fixtures - including the upcoming European Champions Cup games with Clermont Auvergne and Ulster Rugby - has not sat well in Devon.

All week there has been much controversy within the national media about the latest national training camp, which also saw Wasps back-row forward Sam Jones sustain a broken leg and Bath flyer Anthony Watson suffer a fractured jaw.

"It is rather disappointing. He has got a pretty significant tear of his quad," said Baxter (pictured). "He did it on the Monday training with England. To be fair, he was loading in a way that we probably wouldn't have been loading him with, especially with the fact that he only played his first bit of rugby back at the weekend against Northampton.

"More disappointingly, he was sent back with 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.

"Obviously, we have then scanned it and found a pretty significant tear – a nine or 10cm tear – in his quad. It is a significant injury there and he is going to be out for a number of weeks."

The loss of Nowell is yet another untimely blow for Baxter, who is already without the likes of Phil Dollman (hand), Don Armand (knee), Dave Ewers (knee), Michele Campagnaro (hamstring), Alec Hepburn (thumb), Matt Jess (foot) and Jonny Hill (neck).