Chiefs injury update

By Mark Stevens
20/4/18

Rob Baxter has played down injury concerns sustained during Exeter Chiefs' defeat of London Irish last Sunday.

Don Armand, Harry Williams and Ian Whitten were all replaced during the clash at the Madejski Stadium, which the Chiefs won 45-5 to secure a home semi-final in this season's Aviva Premiership.

Of the three, however, it is Irishman Whitten who is causing most concern for the Chiefs Director of Rugby ahead of next week's home encounter against Sale Sharks.

Whitten damaged his hand in a flat-out kick-chase he was after during the second half and he is continuing to be assessed as to the severity of the injury.

"At this stage we're not ruling him out for the rest of the season," said Baxter. "It's a bit more serious than a dislocated finger - it's more of a hand issue. We are still monitoring it and working out whether it is better to leave it alone to heal or whether it will require further intervention."

As for England internationals Armand and Williams, the outlook looks much more favourable.

Baxter added: "Don came off more as a precaution. He took a bang to the hip and is a bit sore there. It was starting to seize up and slow him down. We aren't anticipating having any issues. 

"At a push, we could have carried on with him, but we had Thomas Waldrom on the bench who wanted to get good game minutes into anyway. It was likely Don would have been subbed off anyway about 10 minutes later - so we weren't going to push the injury issue though.

"Harry just had a bang and he had to go off for the concussion protocols. He actually passed that and could have come back on if required."