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Exeter explain the reason why Cowan-Dickie recovery is taking its time
Rob Baxter has shared his thoughts on the situation with Luke Cowan-Dickie, the injured Exeter hooker who hopes to play for England at the upcoming Rugby World Cup before joining Montpellier for the 2023/24 Top 14 season in France. The 29-year-old front-rower hasn’t played since limping from the January 7 Gallagher Premiership win over Northampton with an ankle injury.
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He missed the entire Guinness Six Nations, the first England campaign under new head coach Steve Borthwick, and he was also recently the subject of media reports in France alleging that his already-signed deal with Montpellier could be off due to a separate neck injury that had previously been public knowledge.
That has generated much speculation about his future, an issue that Baxter addressed on Thursday at his media briefing ahead of this Sunday’s Heineken Champions Cup round-of-16 clash… with Montpellier, the team Cowan Dickie is scheduled to be joining.
“He is having an assessment today [Thursday] which will give him some guidance on how the injury is recovering. He has got another one booked in in a few weeks’ time. The RFU are also investigating to see if there is anything they can do to speed up the recovery, they are concerned World Cup-wise. So everything has been poured into it.
“I feel a bit sorry for the guy, he is a bit like a live experiment for everybody but obviously he is desperate to get on with things as well. There is nothing definitively saying here and now that he won’t be fit by the end of the season, but there is also definitively saying that he will be.”
What is the problem? “The issue at the moment is nerve recovery… Now there are sometimes a surgeon or a specialist might go, ‘Look, this is as good as it is going to get’ but that is quite rare. Most of them are, ‘This has improved from the last time we assessed you’, so that means we are still on an improvement curve.
“That is where Luke is at the moment, he is on an improvement curve and what has to happen is that has just got to maintain it to get him back to full fitness. Where that recovery stops will be where he ends up on his fitness pathway. It is not necessarily a plateau, it’s just the time that has to pass.
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“Montpellier haven’t been in touch with us. I don’t think anyone is sitting here thinking the move is off. Everyone is thinking Luke is going to make a decent recovery and he is going to be ready to go and he is going to be a very good player. That is the overriding feeling around the club, and we haven’t had any indication that that is going to change.”
Baxter has one particular reason for wanting Cowan-Dickie to play again as quickly as possible. “There is nobody in the club wanting Luke Cowan-Dickie to be fit more than me because he is an absolute nightmare when he is not playing.
“It is bad enough when he is playing but sometimes the only thing you hear around the club is Luke screaming at a physio to move to the next session or get on with this, or grabbing one of the S&C coaches and going, ‘What are we doing next?’
“He is a bit like a caged lion at the moment, prowling around trying to get on with things. 100 per cent, if he can get fit before the end of the season for us or before the World Cup, he will be flying. There is every good reason to get him fit because he will fly into it with absolute abandon.
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“That part of it is without doubt. He isn’t walking around with his head down going, ‘Poor me’. It’s almost the other way around. That is the part of his character that if he is going to get back quickly will drive him as much as anything else.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Will rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
2 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
2 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to comments