Yahoo News Gloucester Rugby injury latest ahead of The Sharks: Adam Hastings and Santi Carreras
Adam Hastings and Santi Carreras are back in full training and in contention to feature in Gloucester’s Challenge Cup final meeting with South African side the Hollywoodbet Sharks on Friday night, George Skivington has confirmed.
Scottish international fly-half Hastings has not played since the Cherry and Whites’ 40-23 win over Benetton in the Challenge Cup semi-final on May 4, with Charlie Atkinson wearing the number 10 jersey, while Argentina star Carreras has been sidelined for more than a month having had his appendix removed. However, both players look likely to come into the matchday squad for Gloucester’s season-defining game in the final of Europe’s second-tier competition.
Speaking on Monday just two days after the 54-14 win over Newcastle Falcons to cap of the league season, Gloucester director of rugby Skvington said: “They both trained last week, they're both in training this week so again we've got to make decisions around people, individuals, you know guys who can step straight back into a team, guys who can't, things like that. There's a few guys in that bracket.”
Discussing Hastings, who will leave the club to return to Glasgow Warriors this summer after three injury-hit seasons at Kingsholm, Skvington added: “He's got a few bumps and bruises that's for sure so you know from that point of view we are managing Adam the way we think he should be managed, but you know he's fit, he's in good condition.
“We're just managing him through and putting him in where we think it's right.”
In Carreras’ absence, and with Lloyd Evans also sidelined with a hand injury, Skivington has turned to young Welshman Josh Hathaway at full-back in recent weeks and he said he would be confident to see him take the field at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium on Friday night in what would be the biggest game of the 20-year-old’s his life,, if he is required.
Skivington said: “I think Josh has had a great season. I think he's growing really, really nicely. He obviously knows how to score tries. He's working really hard on other aspects of his game and learning what it is to be a premiership winger and playing in the top flight is slightly different. “He's been growing week on week. I think he's very coachable, Josh. He knows where he's at. He knows where he's got to get better at. But I'm very comfortable playing Josh. I think he's he showed some really good character even in that Northampton game [a 90-0 defeat] I thought Josh showed some some real toughness.”
Gloucester and The Sharks will name their teams for the final on Thursday lunchtime with GloucestershireLive bringing you all the build-up to the big game.
