Baxter desperate to see Cuthbert playing

By Mark Stevens
23/3/21

Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter insists the club's medical staff are exploring "every avenue" in a bid to get to the bottom of the hamstring injuries which continue to blight winger Alex Cuthbert.

Baxter confirmed this morning that the Wales and British Lions star is set for another spell on the sidelines after pulling his hamstring in the club's recent Gallagher Premiership win at home to Harlequins.

The 30-year-old returned to action last month with a try-scoring display in his side's away-day victory at Newcastle Falcons - and then followed it up with another touchdown in Exeter's home win against London Irish.

Having felt tightness in the wake of those games, Cuthbert was not risked for subsequent games against Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks and Bath, but was able to return for the home game against Harlequins earlier this month, featuring for 57 minutes before being replaced by club-mate Harvey Skinner.

Further assessment in the wake of that game has revealed Cuthbert has suffered a further setback, much to the disappointment of Baxter, who is keen to see the gifted winger enjoy a prolonged spell of action for the Chiefs.

“Again it is one of those scenarios where we are investigating things further,” explained Baxter. “We never just roll someone off the field who is having repeated hamstring tears, we investigate it.

“We are looking into things around his back and whether there is anything we can do there, but we have been doing this for 12 months now with Alex. We are doing everything we can

"As I have said before, he is a fantastic rehabber and he does things very diligently. We have just got to get him to a level where he can be comfortable because he is in one of these cycles [of injuries] where it is hard to break out of it.

“We have got to try and do the right thing for him, the right thing for the club, it is a really difficult balance. We are exploring every avenue and we have just got to hope the next time we get him back it will be the time he gets over these little injuries, because they are not major injuries, but they are enough to stop him playing.

“We have tried different things, we have tried extending his rest periods, not picking him for more than two games on the bounce, we have tried a variety of things, but at the moment we are still trying to find one that works.”