Gloucester Rugby talisman to miss the Challenge Cup semi-final against Benetton

Argentina international back Santi Carreras will miss Gloucester Rugby’s potentially season-defining Challenge Cup semi-final against Benetton next weekend.

Carreras, who is first choice at full-back for the Cherry and Whites but was also the Pumas’ starting fly-half at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, has not featured in either of Gloucester’s last two Premiership games with the club revealing he has had appendicitis.

The English side are significantly short of options in the 15 jersey with Lloyd Evans also injured having had surgery on his hand. Winger Jake Morris filled in at the back in Gloucester’s 17-38 defeat to Exeter Chiefs on Sunday and did himself no harm, but hardly has the X-factor impact of Carreras who is arguably the biggest star in the Cherry and Whites squad alongside number eight Zach Mercer.

Providing an update on Carreras, Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington told GloucestershireLive: “Santi had to go to the hospital last week and had his appendix taken out so that wasn’t ideal but obviously unavoidable. It is what it is what it, you have got to move on.

“It will rule him out next weekend.”

Gloucester’s injury problems are not isolated to full back wither with Skivington naming a squad with three scrum-halves in the 23 for the Premiership tie at Kingsholm, with Caolan Englefield covering fly-half from the bench with Adam Hastings and George Barton absent.

Englefield, who has played 10 in his youth but is very much a scrum-half, replaced Charlie Atkinson at stand-off during the game.

Discussing the injury situation at 10, Skivington said: “We only had one specialist fit fly-half available today. I am hoping we will have more next week but I will find out tomorrow when I sit down with the medical team.

“We are where we are with the squad right now, the boys we have got out there are the people we have got fit.

“There are a few lads who are touch and go next week but it probably isn’t worth me talking about them right now because I don’t know if they will be fit. There are a few lads with bangs and bruises but ultimately it is a semi-final so people will want to get out there.”