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Wasps deliver 'not as bad as feared' update on injured Minozzi
By Liam Heagney
Wasps boss Lee Blackett has expressed relief that the serious-looking injury suffered by Matteo Minozzi in the opening minutes of last Sunday’s Gallagher Premiership loss at Gloucester isn’t as bad as was initially feared.
The Italian international lasted just six minutes of the 27-21 defeat at Kingsholm and the length of treatment he had on the field before exiting suggested a considerable spell on the sidelines was likely.
Minozzi has had an injury-hit time at Wasps, making just four appearances last term and twelve the year before, and director of rugby Blackett initially feared this latest problem would also cut deep into his availability for the 2022/23 campaign.
However, that won’t now be the case as the full-back should be back in harness by the middle of November at the latest. “Matteo is a hamstring and it’s not as bad as feared,” reported Blackett at his media briefing ahead of this Saturday’s round two game at home to Bristol. “We will probably know more in the next week or so but at the moment the estimate is between six and eight weeks.
“You’d probably take this (length of period out) considering where I thought he’d be. I am gutted for him. He had been training really well. It was a tough selection that 15 jersey last week, it was one of the ones we took a while over and the form he had shown in the two (pre-season) games probably just had him just starting this one (ahead of Ali Crossdale).
“I thought Ali had really good (pre-season) games as well. It was one of those positions where we planned on playing Matteo last week and looking at Ali playing in the next couple of games to give him an opportunity. Both of them have been the best by far I have seen them in training in my time here.”
The other major Wasps injury concern stemming from last Sunday was ex-England international Brad Shields, who exited the action just before the interval at Gloucester. “Brad is a fractured thumb. It is going to be in a cast, the likelihood is for about six weeks but I would expect him to be playing within the next week or two after that.”
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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