Harlequins fly-half Nick Evans will not face Connacht in the Heineken Cup next week after injuring his ankle in Saturday's victory over Biarritz.
The news was better than previously feared however as Quins director of rugby Conor O'Shea revealed that Evans will be out for "weeks rather than months" after he limped off after 17 minutes with his left ankle heavily strapped and was later walking on crutches.
"Nick will have his foot in a boot for a little while and we'll see what it's like," said O'Shea.
"There's no break but there's a little bit of damage. We need to wait 24-48 hours and get it scanned.
"He won't be available against Connacht next Saturday, that's for sure, but it will be weeks rather than months."
Quins were fortunate to have a quality replacement in the form of Ben Botica, (the 23-year-old son of rugby league great Frano) who kicked 18 points in an excellent performance.
"Like father like son - his goalkicking is pretty special. He ran the game really well and attacked the line," said O'Shea.
"It was the biggest match he's ever played in, so his performance was a massive, massive plus. Ben was outstanding."
England scrum-half Danny Care scored a try in a top-class showing while number eight Nick Easter's performance strengthened the calls for an England recall.
"Nick is absolutely magnificent and he will keep on knocking until someone answers," O'Shea said.
"It's great for us but Nick is ambitious and is desperate to play for England.
"The boys are giving him a going-over in the dressing room, saying the England bandwagon has started again.
"This is the Heineken Cup and this is Biarritz. If you believe any team will just blast them away, it won't happen.
"The players were so positive at half-time and that was good. We kept on trying to play and we knew the scores would come.
"I'm absolutely delighted with the response because last week against Exeter (43-28 defeat) we learned you have to work hard in every minute of every game."
Comments
melkdave says...
Not a a surprise considering,but i wonder what the weather is going to ne like lol.Annother misty,drizzel soaked day .Connacht will battle there is no dought,but really asking them to beat Quins twice on the trot i feel is asking just a bit to much imo.Even though they punch above their weight .
Posted 16:26 14th October 2012