The miracle recovery time precedent that could give Hamish Watson a Six Nations lifeline
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend will be a worried man after one of his star players suffered a suspected broken hand during Edinburgh’s Champions Cup match against Montpellier on Friday night.
Star openside flank Hamish Watson failed to finish the match which Edinburgh won 19-10 to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
Watson left the field before the half-hour mark and after the match Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill explained that the injury did not look too good.
“It looks like he may well have broken his hand,” Cockerill told BBC Scotland.
“We don’t know yet, we will have to see.”
However, if Watson's injury is a suspected fractured metacarpal bone, his recovery time could allow him to partake in the Six Nations sooner than many might think. Normal recovery time for such an injury is six to eight weeks, but depending on the severity of the break and how quick a healer he is, the openside could potentially be back playing in under a month.
This is a precedent in rugby for a quick return from such an injury.
Former Ireland international Tommy Bowe sustained a fracture of his second metacarpal – the long bone in his hand - during the Lions tour of South Africa in 2009. Bowe saw a specialist in Australia and had pins inserted into his hand, which it was believed would lower his recovery time to four weeks.
Miraculously, Bowe returned to full training just two weeks after breaking it.
It is yet to be seen if Watson has broken his hand and if so, to what extent.
The 27-year-old has been in fine form for Scotland over the last two seasons and his potential absence will be a major blow for Townsend’s team during this year’s Six Nations tournament.
Scotland start their Six Nations campaign against Italy in a fortnight on February 2.
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Excellent analysis Nick as we have come to expect. I was not really aware that NFL strategies have been adopted by rugby teams, especially in defence. One point I would make is that the Northhampton attacking player on the end of the chain in the video examples has not maintained the correct depth to be effective. In the footage shown the outside player is too flat to make the best of the opportunity his inside players have provided. In each case they have to reduce speed and turn their body backwards to secure the ball, losing all momentum and giving the impressive scrambling defence the chance to shut down the threat.
Go to commentsMorning, John. Do you think that it may be a good idea to rest both teams from the Madrid comp leading in to the Olympics
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