Rob Baxter gives worrying update on dual international prospect Kane James

Exeter Chiefs No.8 Kane James is sweating on the results of a scan on the ankle injury he suffered during the Challenge Cup win over Cardiff last weekend, with boss Rob Baxter fearing he faces three months out.

Baxter says that the injury to the England under-20 international, who only lasted 11 minutes of his third start for the club, is ‘a fairly significant injury’ which could require an operation.

It will be a blow to James, who is at the centre of an international tug-of-war between England and Wales and has become a regular in the Chiefs squad this season, scoring his first try in the draw with Racing 92 in Paris in December.

“It looks like a pretty serious injury. He had scans on Monday night. So we will know fully what he has done later today, probably, but all the indications are that it is a pretty decent injury,” said Baxter.

“A decent ankle injury, you are looking at 10-12 weeks, but we will know more once we have the detailed scan results and the surgeon’s opinion on what the operative route is likely to be, because we will know the level of damage.

“Kane is a very infectious, energetic kind of guy. We have been picking him on merit. It’s not been a development process. It’s because he has been one of the better players.

“That is frustrating for him and clearly frustrating for us because he has broken into the first team and started in a very important game for us, and it hasn’t taken long before he had to come off with a fairly significant injury.”

Baxter says, however, that it could be a blessing in disguise, as it will give him development time with the Chiefs’ rehab team, who have a track record of bringing players back better after injury.

“The problem is with these really good ball carriers who can break tackles. They are the type of injuries they will pick up throughout their careers, where people are catching them from behind and dropping onto their legs.

“It is what it is, and you have to find the flipside and the positive in everything. It does give him a block of development in other areas and spend some decent time in the gym.

“To be fair, our medical and rehab team here is very good, and it’s very rare that these guys don’t come out of these periods bigger, stronger, fitter and faster,” he added.