Injury sidelines Dollman

By Mark Stevens
14/9/2016

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter has confirmed Phil Dollman will be sidelined for a number of weeks after it was revealed he broke his hand in last weekend’s Aviva Premiership clash with Saracens.

The 31-year-old full-back sustained the injury during the opening quarter of the game played at Sandy Park.

"The initial prognosis is that he's going to be out for a little while - he may well require an operation," said Baxter. "If he does he'll have that very shortly, and then you're talking about a six to eight week recovery period."

Signed in 2009 from the Newport-Gwent Dragons, the Welshman has been an integral part of the Chiefs ever since he arrived amassing 174 appearances to date and scoring 112 points in the process.

The loss of Dollman ahead of this Saturday’s home clash with Harlequins is an obvious blow for the Chiefs, who have yet to taste victory after their opening two Premiership games of the season.

However, Baxter believes the loss will open the door for others within the squad to stake their own claims for a regular starting spot.

“Dolly has for a number of years been a very important player in our backline,” said Baxter. “However, these things happen in rugby. Last season we dealt with a number of guys being out for an extended period of time and that’s what we will do again now.

“We’re kind of use to having Jack Nowell in and out of the side, also last season we had big injuries to the likes of Sladey, Dickie, Dave Ewers and Mitch Lees, but we dealt with them and showed the strength of our squad.

“Obviously I'm disappointed for Dolly, he's playing well again, as he did last season, and he's been a key member of the backline, but it's a great opportunity for Lachie Turner to potentially get some time at full-back, a great opportunity potentially for Max Bodilly as well, so we have got options there and these guys are in the squad for a reason."

And whilst the loss of Dollman will be felt, Baxter was able to given a more positive outlook on the potential returns of Nowell, Ewers and Michele Campagnaro.

“We’re counting down the days with all of them,” he added. “Nowellsy’s getting very close now, Dave Ewers we will assess again next week, but he’s making very good progress and with Campo, people probably don’t realise that he’s not been available for selection at all because of a hamstring injury.

“He did it in pre-season initially and then he had a flare up again recently, so we’ll not rush things with him too much at this stage. As always, though, as the season progresses with games coming thick and fast, so the time you wait for guys to come back comes down as well. As I said, we’re getting close with a few of them, so hopefully it’s not too long before they are all out on the field again.”