Joe Launchbury to deliver parting gift to injury-ravaged Harlequins

Joe Launchbury is set to give Harlequins head coach Jason Gilmore a much-needed injury boost by returning to action for the visit of Sale Sharks to the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday.

Former England lock Launchbury, who last week announced he is retiring at the end of the season, has been missing since January because of a quad injury, but will be fit to face the Sharks.

Gilmore, who could be forgiven for thinking he had run out the entire black cat population of the London Borough of Richmond, admits he is happy to see him back in the squad.

“Probably not just one. It’s probably been a few that we’ve run over, but look, you just got to deal with it, don’t you? We just got to keep brushing ourselves off, and this week is a new week.

“We’ve got a couple of locks back this week. Joe Launchbury is making a return. He also got injured in the La Rochelle game, so it’s good to have someone with Joe’s experience back in the team.

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“Harry Browne, who played against Exeter off the bench, is a young lock who got injured during the PREM Cup. Which is good because it’s probably an area where Kieran Treadwell and Guido Petti have had to carry a large load this year,” he said.

Wales fly-half Jarrod Evans and winger Nick David, who both suffered injuries in the 48-15 defeat to Bath last weekend, should be back in action before the end of the season, according to Gilmore.

“They’re not too bad. Those boys got scanned yesterday. Nick David’s probably looking at five to six weeks, and Jarrod’s probably looking at about three to four weeks.

“They’re just going through the medical processes at the moment, just to build their rehab programmes. So we get a bit more clarity at the back end of the week. But we won’t say short-term, but hopefully we’ll see them by the end of the year,” he added.

Gilmore, who has nearly 30 players on his injury list, says, given those problems, it’s little wonder Quins are at the wrong end of the Gallagher PREM table.

“I think if you look at the teams that keep their top 30 players fit are the ones that are at the top of the league, and it’s no coincidence that Leicester and Bath in the last couple of years, barring one or two injuries, they’ve kept their squads healthy.

“And if you look at the teams that have had injuries, they drop to the bottom of the ladder pretty quick. To win leagues, you need the best players on the field. That’s why you pay them. They take up your salary cap.

“So you can probably absorb a few of them because it’s a contact sport. But if you get a crazy amount of injuries, it’s difficult in a tight league to be able to win games each week. So does it have an impact if it’s a large number? Yeah, it definitely does,” he said.