Moseley are optimistic the potential front-row crisis that would have seriously undermined their chances of fielding a competitive pack against Nottingham this weekend has been averted.
Until yesterday evening the Billesley Common outfit feared they had lost three tighthead props in the matter of a few days with Terry Sigley and George Davis going off against Rotherham Titans last Saturday and Ben Buxton undergoing the surgeon’s knife to remove an abscess last week.
Sigley was withdrawn after half an hour at Clifton Lane having sustained what looked like a repeat of the shoulder injury that effectively ended his Sale Sharks career last season. He was followed by Davis 25 minutes later when the former Plymouth man took a blow to the head that left him feeling groggy, and did not sustain the neck injury the club initially thought.
That led the game to be played out with uncontested scrums, much to the irritation of the Rotherham crowd, and led some to fear this Saturday’s visit from Nottingham might end up the same way.
But Davis has recovered well and the result of Sigley’s physiotherapy last night has left the club confident both will be fit in time for this weekend – even if Buxton doesn’t come back in time.
Which is just as well considering the straits in which it would have left Moseley with their Premiership partners Gloucester also struggling in the front row.
Last year’s dual-registered starlet Jack Forster, the most obvious man to come straight in, has not played this season after tearing ligaments in his thumb, indeed the youngster is still in plaster.
With doubts over the fitness of Carlos Nieto – who has missed the last two matches - and Nick Wood, the Kingsholm side would not have been able to help Moseley with anything resembling an experienced loan player.
Thankfully that has not come to pass, indeed Moseley’s situation could be strengthened by the likely availability of Jack Adams against Nottingham.
The young centre had started all five of Moseley’s matches this term only to be called back to Kingsholm to play in Gloucester’s EDF Energy Cup match with Wasps.
By all accounts the 22-year-old did well against the Londoners but with Gloucester due to face Biarritz in the Heineken Cup on Saturday evening it is expected they will want more experience in their midfield.
That will bring Adams back to the team where he was sorely missed, defensively more than offensively, as Moseley were thrashed 47-23 by Rotherham.
Another positive is the return of James Ireland who last night came through an hour of the A team’s match with Oxford University. The former Wales Under 21 had his first season with Moseley wrecked by a shoulder injury that required an operation from which he has only just recovered. Initially signed as a starting scrum half, Ireland has not played since the Northampton game last December and returns to find skipper Gareth Taylor and the highly-rated Jordi Pasqualin barring his way.
Meanwhile, Moseley’s National One rivals Coventry look set to be given yet another stay of execution by the Rugby Football Union.
The Butts Park outfit had been given an October 4 deadline to satisfy the governing body’s demand that their ‘rugby-related’ debts were honoured, despite being written off when the club went into administration in February.
The RFU had become increasingly exasperated by Coventry’s financial woes but now seem set to back off as owner Andrew Green tries to reach an agreement with Mike Umaga.
The former head coach was awarded £38,000 for unfair dismissal by an employment tribunal and has still not been paid.
