Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'Still a way off': No sign of Polledri return after 12 months out

(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Gloucester and Italy flanker Jake Polledri is still battling to return from knee surgery and nerve damage nearly a year after he was injured in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup. With the Nations Series now about to start, the back row is facing yet more rehabilitation work to get him back onto the pitch and George Skivington, his club head coach, admits there is no return date for one of the most dynamic players in the Six Nations.

ADVERTISEMENT

Polledri, who turns 26 on November 8, didn’t play for Gloucester in the 2020/21 campaign after injuring knee ligaments against Scotland on November 14 in Florence. That was his 19th international appearance and the injury came just as Polledri was starting to prove he was the natural back row successor to Italian icon Sergio Parisse.

Skivington revealed that nerve damage complicated the recovery of Polledri but a recent improvement has given the player and his club hope that his long period of rehabilitation could finally be coming to an end.

Video Spacer

How Wales can defeat the All Blacks in Cardiff

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
      Video Spacer

      How Wales can defeat the All Blacks in Cardiff

      Speaking ahead of Friday’s Gallagher Premiership match at home against Exeter, Skivington said: “Jake has made some really good progress in the last couple of months and the injury was severe. There were a number of things that happened in the knee injury and there is a little bit of nerve stuff that is ongoing and so he is still a way off playing at the moment.

      “A month ago there was some real progression which was positive but he isn’t near to coming back. He is working incredibly hard and is super positive. It has been a tough time and unfortunately, this isn’t an injury you can’t put a time scale on. Believe me, I am asking for a time scale but there isn’t one.

      “He is seeing specialists where he needs to and it is getting past that stage now and that was a crux point. Our medical team is outstanding and he is in a good spot. The pressure of a return date wouldn’t help and there are markers and it was a big one his hit a month ago. We want him to be 100 per cent because you can easily push things too hard and set yourself back a long way. It’s very frustrating but he is getting excited after pushing through that bit we talked about.”

      Scotland out-half Adam Hastings missed last weekend’s win over Newcastle but Skivington added: “Adam took a bang last week and it wasn’t anything major. He is in good shape and is back from Scotland.”

      ADVERTISEMENT

      ADVERTISEMENT

      O2 Inside Line: This Rose | Episode 1

      New Zealand v Ireland | Rugby World Cup 1995 | The Vaults

      Behind the scenes with the NEW ZEALAND women's sevens team in Perth | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 5

      Argentina v Australia | HSBC SVNS Perth 2025 | Men's Final Match Highlights

      New Zealand v Australia | HSBC SVNS Perth 2025 | Women's Final Match Highlights

      The Dupont Ploy: How France went from underdogs to Olympic gods | The Report

      Former rugby player is truly an NFL superstar | Walk the Talk | Jordan Mailata

      Boks Office | Episode 33 | Dupont's Toulouse Too Good

      Trending on RugbyPass

      Comments

      0 Comments
      Be the first to comment...

      Join free and tell us what you really think!

      Sign up for free
      ADVERTISEMENT

      Latest Features

      Comments on RugbyPass

      R
      RedWarrior 14 minutes ago
      Many England fans echoing the same gripe following Six Nations loss

      The English defense was excellent in the first half. This is considering Ireland's attack has improved significantly since the Autumn with former Leinster attack coach Goodman. Ireland were beaten by NZ in the Autumn, are behind SA and arguably behind France so de facto 4th in order (rankings take time to catch up) As Eddie Jones said Ireland are still in that elite group so England's domination in the first half is noteworthy.

      I believe they have spent the time since the Autumn largely on defence. On broken play they were relying on Smiths instint along with some jiggery pokery. For Smiths early line break a Twindaloo blocked Baird which left the gap for smith. It looked like he did Aki, but Baird was a little late arriving and clever play by Tom Curry allowed the gap for Smith. Earls line break was Smith spotting Baird coming out and beating him with a beautiful pass to Earl.

      We saw the rehearsed plays for a couple of Ireland's tries. The Aki try was just identifying that England tended to hide Smith on the wing creating a vulnerability which Ireland exploited with one of Akis great finishes.

      Although Ireland were relaxing at the end the two English tries were good enough quality and we may see more of it next week (Scotland will also have taken note).

      Although on the easier side of the draw Borthwick almost took England to a RWC final.

      But in common with the top4 you need to have firepower to get those tries in big games. Can Borthwick manage that? I don't think so.

      Next week even if England have a great first half again, you would be looking at France converting 3 of those Irish chances and pushing on after the break.

      Can Borthwick develop a plan to beat France in the next few years. If the answer is no England need to find someone who can.

      9 Go to comments
      TRENDING
      TRENDING Four England talking points after latest damaging Six Nations loss Four England talking points after latest damaging Six Nations loss
      Search