Murphy gives update on May's shoulder injury

Jonny May may be back to action sooner than expected after a remarkable recovery.

The England winger picked up a worrying-looking injury in Leicester Tigers' derby day victory over midland-rivals Northampton Saints.

Tigers claimed a 23-15 victory at Twickenham, but May left the field after just nine minutes of game time.

A forlorn-looking May left the field clutching his right arm, and underwent a scan shortly after the game and it revealed that there had been no break.

Now Tigers interim head coach Geordan Murphy has given a very upbeat assessment of the injury.

"Jonny has a bang on his AC joint which is pretty painful, but there's no structural damage," he said.

"We're hopeful he could be available for the weekend. It's certainly not a long-term injury."

The Tigers face Ulster in their Champions Cup opener at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday.

It's also welcome news for England head coach Eddie Jones, who will have May at the forefront of his mind as he tries to down the Springboks, New Zealand, Japan and Australia this November.

A natural finisher, May has scored nine tries in 27 games for his country. For former club Gloucester, May scored 62 tries in 138 games, including 41 in 91 Premiership Rugby appearances and five in the European Champions Cup.

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