Woodburn injury blow for Chiefs
By Mark Stevens
5/9/18
Exeter Chiefs have been dealt an untimely injury blow with the news that winger Olly Woodburn is set for a spell on the sidelines after breaking his jaw in last weekend's win over Leicester Tigers.
The try-scoring winger, who bagged his side's first try at Sandy Park, went off in the 68th minute of the 40-6 rout with a facial injury.
Subsequent checks revealed the full extent of the injury and the 26-year-old underwent surgery earlier this week to repair the break.
“Olly is going to be out for a little while. He had a facial injury and has had an operation already on his face and jaw,” said Baxter. “He is going to be out for a little while. I can’t say too much on timings because these things are very changeable, but he is going to be out for at least a few weeks.
“It looks like it is likely to be weeks – at this stage we are not looking at anything ridiculously serious. We are hoping this will sort itself out quite quickly.”
That means Baxter will be forced into at least one change ahead of this weekend's trip to Wasps - and he may have to tinker with another area of his team as scrum-half Nic White is also struggling with a foot injury.
“Nic White is hobbling on his foot at the moment. It is a bit too early to say how that is,” Baxter continued. “He has a pretty sore foot so we will assess it as he goes along. We’re not sure where he is (fitness-wise) yet.”
But whilst the loss of Woodburn and White will be considered a blow, Director of Rugby Baxter will be heartened with the news that a number of other first-team stars are within days of returning to competitive action.
Summer signing Alex Cuthbert, Michele Campagnaro and Max Bodilly all started Monday's 47-24 Premiership Shield win against Saracens Storm, while a number of others are also close to returning and could feature in this Sunday's Shield clash at home to Bath United (2pm).
Baxter said: “The flipside of what have been a few frustrating injuries is that this week we have the likes of Dave Dennis, Jonny Hill, Ben Moon and Dave Ewers all back in full training.
“Jack Nowell is running around and Alex Cuthbert featured on Monday night, while Sam Hill is running around and almost back in full training.”
