CONNACHT SECOND ROW Gavin Thornbury was back among his team-mates today as he began undertaking return to play protocols following a worrying concussion suffered in Sunday’s win over Ulster.
The 26-year-old suffered the blow to his head early in the second half of the western province’s otherwise thrilling 26-20 win at the Aviva Stadium. Precautionary treatment for the lock brought play to a halt for an extended period while he was moved onto a stretcher and taken to hospital.
Head coach Andy Friend, speaking in a virtual press conference this afternoon, confirmed Thornbury had not suffered an additional physical injury.
“He’s in here today and he’ll start his return to play protocols,” said the Australian.
“He’ll need to have the next couple of days off. Good to have him back up on his feet though and he’s in good spirits.”
Friend was relieved to have a relatively short injury list following his side’s first match back on the field. Denis Buckley (shoulder) was Connacht’s other entry to the treatment room. Both men are out of contention for this weekend’s second run-out at the Aviva Stadium against Munster (15.00 Sunday, eir Sport).
However, Friend signalled his intention to rotate his squad through these games as early as last week and has not altered that plan.
“We said from the outset that we’ll treat these two games as opportunities for players. I think the pleasing thing from the weekend is that the players that started, and those that came on, have set the bar pretty high.
“We’ve got another group of players here who are keen to get out and try to emulate that if they can.”
He’s not as disappointed as some on relation to how far off they are? They are miles off. No offence to Munster but they are an average,though very gutsy and committed side,and they have hammers Leinster twice in a row now. I do agree that they haven’t had any continuity with combinations,especially from 9-13,and hopefully when the likes of OBrien, Healy, Moore, Teo, McFadden etc come back then there will be a big improvement.
I must take the opportunity to praise Matt O’Connor for the huge improvement in Guinness Pro12 teams. Ever since he arrived at Leinster, every other team has greatly improved. Teams, that two years ago were almost brushed aside by Leinster, have now reached the heights that Leinster once inhabited alone.
Treviso have improved, Munster have improved, Edinburgh have improved, Scarlets have improved, Dragons have improved, Zebra have improved, Connacht (brilliant tonight, by the way) have improved..
In fact, they have all improved so much that Leinster has great difficulty taking on any of them.
By extension, Wasps and Harlequins have shown just how brilliant they are too due to you Matt.
I can hardly wait to see how much Castres get better when they arrive at the RDS soon. They will build statues in your image all over the town.
Matt, you have done European rugby a great service. They have all reached and surpassed Leinster this season thanks to your input at Leinster and everywhere else.
Thank you Matt and Happy New year!.
(and also to Mr Caputo, the news paper seller. Your influence on all other teams has been exceptional)