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The 'England conversation' Borthwick just had about Ruan Ackermann

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Gloucester boss George Skivington has suggested that Ruan Ackermann could still potentially be a Rugby World Cup wildcard for England even though he will soon undergo knee surgery to fix the damage sustained by the recent clearout that earned La Rochelle prop Georges-Henri Colombe a four-game ban.

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The Gloucester boss confirmed that the name of the uncapped Ackermann is very much in the England mix following the conversation he had with Test head coach Steve Borthwick just days after the South African-born back-rower back was hurt in his team’s agonising 29-26 Heineken Champions Cup round-of-16 loss in France on April 1.

Ackermann now faces a period out of the game once he undergoes the surgery. However, Skivington claimed the damage isn’t as bad as an ACL injury – although the full extent of the injury won’t be known until the surgeon has examined it in detail.

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Ackermann is having to wait for the swelling to fully recede before he can have the operation and Skivington, whose Gloucester side take on Bath on Friday night in the latest round of Gallagher Premiership fixtures, said: “Ironically, on the Monday after La Rochelle, I had a long talk with Steve Borthwick about Ruan.

“He is in the England conversation and his form and work he has put in is the reason for that. Ruan does need surgery, but the scans showed it wasn’t as bad as it could have been and the knee has to settle down. It was that 150kg guy rolling through his knee – and that would have finished most of us off.

“We won’t see him again this season, but we have our fingers crossed that the recovery won’t be a long slog like we have had with numerous other players. The scans showed damage but nothing horrific and we don’t want to make plans until they cut open and tell us what is needed to be done. We are relatively positive about it. It isn’t ACL but there are a few areas of damage and hopefully not something like six to nine months.

“He is a tough character but, like all of us, he is pretty devastated about it. This is the first one that while it isn’t malicious, it was sloppy. It has hurt us and also Ruan because he is on the edge of that England fold.”

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Skivington also confirmed Scotland No10 Adam Hastings is back in training after his injury lay-off and could play before the end of the season.

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Comments

2 Comments
A
Arthos 624 days ago

This would be very sad and an embarrassment to the family, especially given his dad was a Bok. Would also probably hurt his dads chances of coaching the Boks in the future, how do you coach against your own son.

M
Mike 660 days ago

He is my joint 3rd pick to join the England squad
Rapava-Ruskin
Pearson
Hill/Ruan

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RedWarrior 22 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.

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