Concern was considerable when Finn Russell was stretchered from the pitch at the Galway Showgrounds in clear distress during Glasgow Warriors’ Pro12 semi-final defeat to Connacht but his club coach has expressed confidence that the Scotland stand off is on the mend and set to make a full recovery.
Little more than a minute had elapsed when Russell suffered the head injury that ended his season in a collision with team-mate Zander Fagerson and Gregor Townsend admits to having suffered growing fears about the 23-year-old’s prospects.
“At the time we knew it was a serious injury when someone has to get oxygen and go off the field, but the game obviously kept on going and we didn’t realise until that evening that it was very serious. So the night in hospital was a worrying time for everyone, but since then he’s made excellent progress,” said the Warriors head coach.
So much so that rehabilitation rather than surgical intervention has been deemed sufficient, albeit Russell, who had damage to his skull and cheekbone as well as being concussed, still faces a long haul.
“He’s seen a lot of specialists and every time he’s seen someone they’ve said ‘Great, you don’t require surgery,’ and he’s now looking great as well,” said Townsend.
“He came back in excellent spirits. We do realise he’s going to be out longer than a normal head injury because it was a nasty injury but he’s making great progress.
““We’re taking it stage by stage so he’s got through that initial period without requiring surgery, so he’s able to start moving again, but every week he’s checking in with neurologist.”
He is, however, planning on the basis of being without the play-maker at the start of next season.
“We’ve got Peter (Horne) and Rory Clegg and we are looking to bring in someone else, whether via our academy or someone in our squad we should be able to announce something in the next week or two and Stuart Hogg can cover 10 if one of those were injured,” Townsend explained.
“So we don’t expect Finn to miss too much but we do understand he might not play at the beginning of the season.”
The coach reckons he is close to completing his squad for the coming season, claiming that only two further recruits are yet to be named, but expressed excitement about an acquisition which should allow his team to maximise their capacity to play attractive rugby following the confirmation that a new synthetic surface is to be laid at their Scotstoun home.
A joint venture involving Warriors’ owners Scottish Rugby, Sportscotland and Glasgow City Council means the flooding problems which blighted the club last season should be a thing of the past, but as well as having reliable and consistent underfoot conditions, Townsend reckons it should help their playing style.
““I’m a massive fan of playing on the artificial pitches,” he said.
“Players have grown to love them. You speak to someone like Sean Lamont, he loves playing on the Cardiff pitch and he’s our oldest player and the youngest guys have been brought up on them.
“It suits the way we want to play a high tempo game, there’s still going to be times we play in rain but at least the pitch won’t change. The ball might get a bit wet, but we’re not going to be slowed down when we’re playing at home.”
That would seem to be at odds with the views of many involved in the national game since artificial pitches are often criticised by football managers and players with claims that they cause or exacerbate injuries, but Townsend reckons that is largely because they are less accustomed to using them.
“Initially there were guys in the Scotland (rugby) squad who, when they trained on an artificial pitch certain things flared up, but the more you get used to it, the more your body adapts,” he contended. “With footballers, they probably don't train very often [on an artificial surface] so it is going to be a shock to the system.
“If you are changing from grass to 3G, it is different, I would find it different. Using it more often like we do the players have adapted.”
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